If You're Homophobic, then why are you kissing me?
by XxXMorganXxXLEAHXxX
Summary: Suzaku can't help it that he's homophobic.  It just didn't seem right, seeing two people of the same gender together.  But then, why does he have this urge for Lelouch that he shouldn't? LuluXSuza
1. Chapter 1: Disturbed

**If you're Homophobic, then why are you kissing me?**

**Chapter One: Disturbed**

Suzaku Kururugi could only stare at them. He couldn't even bring the thought to mind. Just the thought made his stomach churn…

Why had he run into Milly and Kallen while they were kissing? Oh, why oh why are the gods punishing him like this? He moaned and leaned against the wall, slowly sinking to the floor. He was in the Student Council Room, trying to remove the thought from his mind.

It wasn't his fault he was homophobic; he couldn't picture any two people of the same gender together. It just didn't seem natural… He groaned again, the thought reappearing… just as Lelouch walked in with the others. Suzaku's eyes widened as he saw Milly and Kallen and quickly stood up. "Hey, Suzaku, are you feeling all right?" Kallen wondered as she sat down at the table.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, too quickly for Lelouch's liking. Lelouch gave him a questioning look as he sat down. Suzaku quickly took a seat beside Lelouch, away from Kallen or Milly, luckily. He still liked them as friends, but right now… he wouldn't be able to sit next to them without screaming bloody murder randomly.

"Well, I have an announcement before our meeting," Milly announced as she stood at the front of the table. Rivalz gave her an odd look, but had his full attention to her all the same. Lelouch was still looking at Suzaku weirdly, but turned his attention to Milly as well. Kallen had a knowing look on her face, as if she knew exactly what was going on. Shirley looked happy, waiting for the president to announce what she had to say. And Suzaku was staring at the wall behind Milly, forcing himself to have a blank face. Nina wasn't at the meeting. "I want to make it official. Kallen and I are dating!"

A knowing look dawned on Lelouch's face while an outcry from Rivalz happened. He looked at Suzaku, who glanced at Lelouch and froze. There, Lelouch sat and the sun was lighting everything around him. He looked… well…

Suzaku looked away, his eyes widening as he realized what he was thinking. Was this what it had felt like for Milly and Kallen? He glanced at the two girls, who were arguing with Rivalz while Shirley congratulated them. Surely, he wasn't feeling something for Lelouch… right? Maybe it was because he hadn't kissed someone in so long…

Lelouch stood up. "Suzaku, do you want to come to the bathroom?" he wondered loudly over the squealing as Milly kissed Kallen's cheek. Suzaku gulped, then nodded, and stood up.

"Sure, we can go for now," Suzaku agreed, following Lelouch out of the room.

Milly gave Lelouch an odd look as they left, but Lelouch simply rolled his eyes in an 'I'll explain later' look. She looked at Kallen, who shrugged. "Maybe they're going to the bathroom for some alone time," she said, a smirk forming on her face. Milly giggled.

Lelouch opened the bathroom door for Suzaku, who stumbled into the room and leaned over the sink, his wide eyes staring blankly ahead. "I'm sorry about that. I should have explained to Milly that you're-"

Suzaku forced himself to shake his head. "I'm fine, Lelouch. I mean, I'm happy for them, but…"

"I know you're homophobic, so I should have pulled you out of there right away," Lelouch said, leaning against the wall besides Suzaku. Suzaku's eyes flickered over to Lelouch.

"I said it was fine." Suzaku swallowed. "I ran into them earlier and I saw them kissing and…"

"Oh…" It made sense now. Normally, Suzaku didn't freak quite so badly when two people of the same gender were together, but if he saw them doing something intimate… that usually took the freakiness to a whole new level.

"I'll be fine soon," Suzaku continued with a shaky smile and he straightened up. "Let's head back; I don't want to cause us to miss the entire meeting."

"Are you sure? We can wait until you're-"

"I'm fine." Suzaku lead them out of the bathroom, flashing Lelouch a quick smile as he passed him.

#

#

It was later that evening. Lelouch had offered Suzaku to stay at his home that night and Suzaku agreed. He was in the kitchen with Nunnally, folding paper cranes. Lelouch was out, in the hall, waiting for someone. He was waiting for Milly, to be exact. And he wanted to make sure Rolo wouldn't be able to walk in on their conversations.

"Okay, Lelouch, what was up earlier?" Milly demanded as she walked down the hall towards.

Lelouch shook his head. "You have to promise you won't tell anyone. Suzaku told me this a long time ago and it's really personal for him. It's probably one of the only things in a battle field that would break his cool."

"Okay, I get it. Now what is it?"

"He's homophobic."

Milly was surprised. "Oh, that's why," she said, a knowing look crossing her face. "Why hadn't anyone told us earlier?"

"He doesn't want anyone to know. He feels really bad about it."

"I see. Well, that would probably explain why he wasn't talking to Kallen or me today."

"Well, you see, normally, Suzaku doesn't freak out too bad about it. However, he ran into you two earlier that day…"

"Oh…" That made sense now. "Well, this is going to be interesting. I won't be able to put my plan into action right now then," Milly pouted, then a grin formed on her face. "He isn't the scared homophobic type, right?"

"Yeah."

"Great! I'll see you later."

Lelouch stared after Milly, an uneasy feeling filling his stomach as he watched her run off. "What were you up to Lelouch?" Suzaku wondered, handing Nunnally another crane for her light purple eyes to inspect. Nunnally turned to look at her brother, smiling.

"Oh, Milly had wanted to ask me about a festival we would be doing, but she didn't give me any details," Lelouch said smoothly, settling down beside Nunnally and picking up some paper.

"Is Suzaku going to be staying here tonight, brother?" Nunnally wondered as she spread the wings out.

"Had I not told you yet, Nunnally? He'll be staying tonight," Lelouch said with a smile to his sister.

"Where is Rolo? I haven't seen him for most of today either," Nunnally continued.

Lelouch shrugged, just as the door opened. Rolo walked in, looking exhausted. "Hey, Rolo, is everything all right?" Lelouch asked.

Rolo blushed slightly. "I-It's nothing."

"What about Gino? Had you seen him today? I was supposed to talk to him about some schoolwork," Suzaku said with a frown.

"Oh, I helped him," Rolo said softly, walking out of the room. Nunnally cocked her head to the side, and then a knowing look passed across her face. She burst out giggling. The other two gave her an odd look.

"Rolo and Gino were studying," Nunnally said before going into another fit of giggling.

Lelouch's eyes widened and Suzaku's mouth dropped open. Suzaku started laughing first and Lelouch joined him soon after.

Everyone soon calmed down and began working on the cranes some more. "It's getting late," Lelouch commented after a moment. "We should probably get some sleep. We do have school tomorrow."

"That's a good idea," Suzaku agreed.

"Okay," Nunnally agreed, nodding her head.

Suzaku and Lelouch both got Nunnally put to bed, and then they faced a new challenge. There was one bedroom free for Suzaku and Lelouch. "Hmm… this could be interesting," Lelouch said with a nod as he assessed the problem.

"I could stay on the couch-" Suzaku began, but Lelouch shook his head.

"We can both stay in my bed," Lelouch interrupted. "It's a queen-sized bed so we won't be anywhere near each other."

"The couch is just fine, Lelouch."

"It's uncomfortable. Besides my bed is big enough to fit Gino and Rolo in here as well. It's perfectly fine."

"Fine, I'll sleep on the floor then," Suzaku grumbled, folding his arms over his chest.

"It's not like we haven't shared a bed before-"

"We were ten then."

"You're staying. Unless it makes you too uncomfortable…"

"Lelouch, you're my best friend. Of course I'm not uncomfortable."

"Then you'll stay," Lelouch decided. "Okay, I have some spare pajamas if you need them," Lelouch continued, turning to his dresser. Suzaku sat down on the bed, observing Lelouch's room silently. It wasn't very often he was in there and it was interesting to see exactly how Lelouch's room was set up. It was simple really; plain walls, a queen-sized bed with a dark blue quilt, a desk where his laptop sat, a black jacket hung on the back of the chair in front of his desk… He stood up and picked up the jacket.

"Lelouch, where are the hangers?" Suzaku wondered as he folded the jacket over his arm.

"They're over in that closet," Lelouch nodded, then noticed the jacket on Suzaku's arm. He cocked his head to the side. "I wonder where that came from," he wondered, walking over with the pajamas.

"Is it yours?" Suzaku asked, holding it up. It was only then that he realized the jacket was too small for Lelouch.

"I think it might be C2's. She was over here just the other day."

"In your room?" Suzaku grinned. They were referring to their newest classmate. She was a strange girl, really. She kept to herself mostly, but she talked to Lelouch a lot, along with Suzaku. Her hair was an odd color as well, it was green, and she kept it pulled back in pigtails.

"Oh, shut up. She wanted some help with homework and Rolo and Gino were playing a really loud game then."

"Are you sure it was a game? Obviously, the two have a thing for each other and they may have been-"

"With Nunnally? She was playing with them."

"Oh? Never mind…" Suzaku grinned again and slipped out of the bedroom. He dropped the jacket over an armchair and got dressed in the bathroom. Lelouch was ready when Suzaku returned. They climbed into the bed, one at a time. Lelouch was by the wall and Suzaku was on the outside of the bed. Lelouch snuggled up to his pillow and closed his eyes, hoping for a night of sleep.

**~Author's Note~**


	2. Chapter 2: Festival

**Chapter Two: Festival**

Lelouch blinked his eyes open, yawning widely. The warmth around his body made him sleepy again. He tried to fight it off though. He couldn't fall asleep. School would be starting any moment now…

He forced himself to open his eyes, shock jolting through him as he realized the situation. Here he was, with Suzaku's arms wrapped around his body. He was pulled to the boy's chest and he couldn't move an inch. He tried to wriggle around, but it was futile. What was he to do now? If Suzaku woke up, he would completely freak. He didn't want Suzaku avoiding him for a month.

Before he had a chance to figure out what could possibly work, Suzaku flipped over and sprawled out on the bed, giving Lelouch a chance to escape. He slipped off of the bed quietly and went to the bathroom to get ready for school.

Suzaku jumped to his feet, still half asleep, and kicked at the loud noise that had woken him. It wasn't until he blinked several times and saw a shattered alarm clock on the floor that he realized he wasn't being attacked.

Lelouch burst into his room, looking from Suzaku to the alarm. "Sorry, about that Lelouch," Suzaku mumbled, looking away. It took a moment or two to realize why Suzaku was acting strange.

He chuckled nervously, answering, "Sorry Suzaku. Let me just get some clothes real quick…" Lelouch was only in a towel.

After Lelouch had his school uniform on and he had helped Nunnally get ready, he walked back into his bedroom, where Suzaku was fully dressed and was just finished with drying his messy hair. He was attempting a futile attack on his hair, but once he had the knots out, he gave up.

"Are you ready for breakfast?" Lelouch asked as Suzaku began to turn around. He had leaned against the doorway, observing Suzaku.

"Yeah. Is Nunnally up yet?"

Lelouch nodded. "She should be waiting downstairs for us." When he noticed Suzaku's slightly confused look, he added, "Sayoko helps Nunnally in the morning."

Suzaku nodded and, as they walked towards the kitchen, asked, "Do you mind if I stay here for a little while?"

Lelouch cocked his head to the side and asked, "Why do you need to? I thought you had a place on the military base. Not that it's a problem," he added.

"Well, we've been recruiting so many new soldiers to the base that we've needed to cut short on the members staying on base. It happens that the Elevens are kicked off first."

Lelouch scowled. He hated how the Britannians discriminated against the Elevens. Thankfully, since Zero had stirred up quite a mess in Area 11, he had turned most of everyone's approach against the Japanese. It's too bad they were still called Elevens, but at least they weren't treated like scum anymore. Usually.

"I might go have a chat with your superior later," Lelouch growled.

"Don't do that," Suzaku argued quickly. "It's fine, as long as I have a place to stay."

"Well you do. And I can make sure you have your own room. I've been talking to Milly and, with Rolo moving in now too with us, I need extra rooms. It's a perfect time, I can just make sure to have one more extra room after this."

"Thanks a bunch, Lelouch."

The two walked into the kitchen at that moment. Nunnally gave the two an eye-closing smile and said, "Good morning."

"Morning, Nunnally," Suzaku and Lelouch replied, Suzaku leaning down to give Nunnally a hug.

Lelouch smiled at her and said, "Nunnally, guess who's staying with us for a while?"

Nunnally cocked her head to the side, wondering who it would be.

Lelouch and Suzaku shared a grin, sat down, and began to explain what was going on.

When they had to leave for school, they both knew Nunnally was in great spirits. As the two were getting their bags ready, it dawned on Lelouch what was going on today. He groaned. Suzaku turned to Lelouch, giving him a weird look. "What's wrong? Do you have a stomach ache or something?"

"I'm thinking about it," Lelouch grumbled, adding, "Today is the start of Milly's Christmas themed festival."

"Christmas?" Suzaku wondered, frowning.

"It's a holiday that Britannians used to celebrate until 2010."

"Oh, I think I remember that holiday in History Class."

"I can only imagine what she's going to do."

Suzaku shrugged, pulling his shoulder bag over his head and allowing it to rest on his right shoulder. "Well, let's get this day over with then."

Lelouch spotted Nunnally backing up from the doorway and strode over to her. He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. "I'll see you at lunch, Nunnally," he said.

Nunnally shook her head. "No, Milly was just by. She wanted me to tell you there would be a Student Council Meeting today."

"All right," he sighed. Lelouch stepped aside for Suzaku, who hugged Nunnally and wished her a good day at school. Then, both Suzaku and Lelouch went to step out the door.

"No, wait, brother," Nunnally began, but, by the time Lelouch turned around to see what Nunnally needed, both he and Suzaku were in the doorway. She sighed, shaking her head.

"What is it, Nunnally?" Suzaku asked.

"Look up," she sighed.

The two did.

There it was; the mistletoe.

At that point, Milly walked up. Her eyes widened and a shocked expression filled her face. "Oh, my god! Lelouch, I thought you would come out with Nunnally. I never thought Suzaku was here…" But despite her shocked expression, Lelouch swore he saw a plotting look in her eyes.

Suzaku looked between Lelouch and Milly, confused. "What's going on?"

Lelouch glared at Milly as he said, "Mistletoes were a tradition often played at Christmas time. If two people walked under a mistletoe, they were to kiss."

Suzaku was trying to keep his face blank; he didn't need Milly knowing he was homophobic. "So, we need to kiss then," Suzaku said slowly.

"Not mouth to mouth, exactly," Lelouch and Milly said at the same time. Lelouch had a slight blush on his cheeks, but only Milly noticed. A grin _nearly_ crept on her face, but she managed to keep her face to the apologetic look she had on it.

Suzaku was too busy trying to contemplate what was going on to notice Lelouch's slight blush. But…well, Lelouch was Suzaku's friend; Suzaku could trust him with anything. So could be bring himself to kiss Lelouch? Just the thought made him want to turn tail and flee, but…

He shook his head and gave Lelouch a tentative smile. "All right, Lelouch where do you want to kiss?" Just saying the sentence made Suzaku's heart skip a beat, but it was just because he was nervous. He was JUST nervous. That's all.

Lelouch looked surprised. "Are you sure?" he asked softly, violet eyes meeting green eyes. Suzaku nodded, hesitant.

For a moment, Suzaku hesitated. Lelouch looked like he was struggling with the situation, but he finally nodded as well. "All right, then, Suzaku, I want you to choose." Suzaku met Lelouch's eye and understood. Lelouch wanted to make sure Suzaku was comfortable with whatever was going on. So, he nodded and thought for a moment. Then, with three small strides, Suzaku cupped Lelouch's face and placed a tentative kiss on Lelouch's lips.

Milly watched in surprise, especially when she saw Lelouch's reaction. His eyes widened slightly, but then slowly closed. That blush that had been on his cheeks darkened, just barely, but Milly noticed. She frowned, her head cocked to the side. Could it be…?

Suzaku pulled back after a moment, surprised he didn't feel too uncomfortable. He did quite a bit, but it wasn't terrible. He gave Lelouch a shaky grin and stepped back. "Well, we should probably get to class," Lelouch said, coughing slightly. He was slyly looking down the hall, but Milly could see he was still blushing.

"Yeah, let's go," Suzaku agreed, though he was nervous around Lelouch right now. Milly came with them and the three began to talk.

#

#

It was lunch time. Suzaku and Lelouch, in an heated discussion about Suzaku's superior, got lunch together and then headed for the Student Council room. It was nice that Suzaku was beginning to get more comfortable around Lelouch now.

"Lelouch, don't-"

"I'm going to go over there and talk to that guy-"

"Lelouch-"

"And you're not stopping me either. Even if I have to-"

"Lelouch, quit-"

"Beat the crap out of him and-"

"Lelouch!"

"What?" Lelouch finally quit his rant temporarily.

"I have two things to say; one, you would never be able to beat the crap out of my superiors, and two I'm fine with it."

"I'm not," Lelouch said stubbornly.

"I love that you're so against this, but I don't mind being off base. It gives me more time to spend with my friends."

It was at that point they walked through the door to the meeting room. The others were already there.

"Great," Milly said cheerfully, standing up at the front of the table. "Now that everyone's here, we can begin the meeting."

"Yeah, I am confused. Weren't we supposed to start that festival today?" Rivalz asked, leaning his seat back.

Milly sighed, shaking her head. "Don't any of you ever listen?" She grinned over at Kallen. "Well, I know one of you does."

"Hey, who said I ever listened while we were at a Student Council Meeting?" Kallen asked, resting her feet on the table.

"As I was saying," Milly continued, walking over to push Kallen's feet off the table, "Today wasn't the start of the Christmas Themed Festival. We were planning it and announcing it today. The day after, we'd do the festival."

"Oh, I get it," Shirley nodded. "Are we going to set up the day of the holiday?"

"We're going to be setting up several days," Milly answered, grinning again. "The Festival is the 12 days of Christmas."

Everyone nodded slowly, but Milly knew none of them knew what she was talking about. She sighed and shook her head. Then she passed out a list.

"I'll explain as simply as I can." Then she began to explain about the song and what it meant. "And that," she finished is, "Is why we have twelve days for this festival and why there are 12 activities listed on the list in front of you."

Everyone looked down at the twelve line list.

"Okay, that all makes sense," Kallen nodded slowly, looking up. "But wouldn't it make sense to have snow for Christmas too?"

"Japan hasn't gotten snow in ages. It's not like I can produce it," Milly whined, sighing. "I'd love to have snow again. I haven't seen it since I was a little girl."

"Wait, is that all we're meeting for?" Lelouch asked, annoyed. "You just wanted to tell us what you were doing for the festival."

Giggling, Milly nodded, but then turned serious. "No, I needed to talk to you as well, Lelouch. But only you." She grinned again. "All right, I guess the meeting is dismissed. I want to talk to Lelouch. Alone."

Everyone left, leaving the Student Council President and its Vice President alone. "What do you need, Milly?" Lelouch asked as she leaned near the door to the room.

She was silent for a moment, then stood up and walked over to Lelouch. "I saw how you reacted when you two kissed."

Lelouch looked away. "What are you talking about?"

She leaned down by his ear and answered in a singsong voice, "You like Suzaku."

**~Author's Note~**

**Finally! I updated! Jeesh, I had such writer's block for this, but now that I finally have a plot and something to go off of, things should come out quicker. Hopefully.**

**Thank you for the reviews!**

**XxXMorganXxXLEAHXxX **


	3. Chapter 3: Ironic

**Chapter Three: Ironic**

"You like Suzaku." Lelouch wanted to deny it. Milly could tell by his face. Normally, it was calm and collected, but this time Milly could see his inner struggle clearly. The grin on her face disappeared. She sat down in front of Lelouch and waited, her worry clear.

Lelouch finally sighed and leaned his elbows on his knees. "I already know you know, so there's no point trying to deny it." He had been staring at the floor when he spoke, but now he looked up at Milly. "I do like him," he admitted after a moment hesitation.

Milly nodded, saying, "This explains why you denied Shirley when she asked you out. But why would you… well, wait for him?"

The hurt, defeated expression that passed his face nearly broke Milly's heart. "He'd been homophobic since I'd met him," Lelouch began, but Milly interrupted him.

"How about you tell me the story first," Milly said softly, resting her hand on his arm. "Tell me when you first knew you liked him."

Lelouch nodded, swallowing. By now, he'd normally close down and tell the person to mind their own business. Milly was different though; she was his oldest friend. Besides… he wanted to tell her.

"After Suzaku and I were friends, we'd do a lot to together. He loved to explore, so he'd invite me and Nunnally would come along to; she always loved to ride on Suzaku's back." For a moment, Milly smiled, but it faded quickly.

Lelouch continued. "This one 'adventure' we were doing would take days. Suzaku told me so, so we packed food and some equipment and then we headed out. The first day, we made a lot of progress, but I made it slower than normal. We had gone through three fields and were half way into a forest. I wasn't going to say I was exhausted, but Suzaku could tell. So he forced me to stop, set Nunnally carefully on the ground, and we set up camp. There was a nice fire and we enjoyed ourselves immensely. We ate and told old campfire stories until we decided to go to bed. We had a tent up and Suzaku and I decided Nunnally should sleep between us. So we settled in, and said our good nights. I had put my arm around Nunnally and planned to close my eyes when I felt my hand brush Suzaku's. I knew it was his by how it felt; it was roughened from hard labor. But he couldn't tell it was my hand he was touching, so he assumed it was Nunnally's and held it." Lelouch frowned, pausing in his story.

"What is it?" Milly wondered, curious as to what had happened next.

"I couldn't find a logically explanation to why I didn't pull away. I knew Suzaku was homophobic, but I kept a hold on his hand until I was asleep." Lelouch swallowed again. "It finally dawned on me the next night why I didn't pull away. Nunnally had fallen asleep, but Suzaku and I weren't tired yet. We were all lying in a field without the tent; it was a hot summer's night, perfect for sleeping out under the stars. To allow Nunnally her rest, we moved away and Suzaku began to tell me a story about the stars. We were lying so close, much closer than what Suzaku normally allowed and I really enjoyed it for some reason. We accidentally fell asleep during the story. When I woke up early morning and I was _cuddling _up next to him, I finally realized I liked him."

At this point, Lelouch tried to shrug casually. "The feelings weren't going away, even when we were separated. I guess I kind of hoped his fear would go away."

At the end of his explanation, it was obvious Lelouch was embarrassed. But Milly, she found it to be a cute little tale. Milly smiled and she squeezed his arm.

"That was so cute, Lelouch," she giggled, but her giggle died quickly. "But don't be discouraged. There's always a chance you'll end up with him. If you try hard enough, that is." She smiled again. "Well, I've got to get going. I'm meeting up with Kallen before lunch is over."

"See you at gym then," Lelouch nodded, standing up. He was quick to leave the room, Milly noted, but it just made her smile and head off to find Kallen.

Lelouch headed straight for class, avoiding anyone he could. Talking was definitely something he wanted to avoid right now. Talking and Suzaku of course.

Milly secretly watched Lelouch run off for class, then turned to Kallen and grinned. "Well, my reasons for this festival have officially come to light."

"What do you mean?" Kallen wondered, looking at Lelouch as well. Milly whispered something into Kallen's ear. This something made Kallen's eyes widen and look at Milly in disbelief, but Milly just grinned and walked off for gym.

~~~~~*~~~~~#

The bell rang, signaling for everyone to head for their next class. Lelouch walked into the Boys' Changing Room and began to change into his gym clothes. Rivalz was looking over at Lelouch, concerned. Normally, the raven-haired boy skipped this class. What was wrong with Lelouch?

"Hey, Lelouch," Rivalz said, "what's up with you? Normally you skip this class."

Lelouch shrugged. "I can't skip anymore. The teachers are monitoring me more closely," he explained, pulling the shirt over his head.

"Do you realize what today is?" Rivalz asked.

Lelouch nodded, somber.

That's when Suzaku walked in. Quickly, Lelouch turned back to his locker, in hope of avoiding eye contact, but he tripped and fell forward right onto the wooden bench. He closed his eyes and cursed himself silently.

Suzaku helped Lelouch sit back up and wondered, "Are you all right?"

Lelouch nodded, lightly touching his bruising stomach. He grimaced. "The pain should fade soon. I'll be fine."

"Can I look?" Suzaku wondered. Numbly, Lelouch nodded and lifted up his shirt slightly. Suzaku leaned down to look at the stomach. Blushing, Lelouch leaned his head back against some of the lockers and tried not to think what he was imagining.

"So, am I all right, Sir Kururugi?" Lelouch wonder after several moments of Suzaku being quiet.

"Yeah, you're fine," Suzaku grinned. He stood up and began to strip off his school uniform. Lelouch suddenly flushed and looked away. He stood up quickly.

"I'll see you in gym, Suzaku," he said before hurrying out of the room. Suzaku gave him a weird look as he left the room.

Lelouch walked into the gym, mentally cursing himself and flinching with every step he took. He ignored the pain, hoping that today would be an easy day of gym.

It wasn't an easy day. As soon as the bell had rung and the entire class had gathered into the gym, the teacher took them outside to the running track. Lelouch tried not to groan and ended up glancing at Suzaku, who was grinning.

"Every one of you is going to be running this track all hour. I don't want to see any of you slacking off; at least stay at a slow jog." He blew his whistle. "Line up into three lines now!"

In the end, Lelouch found himself behind Suzaku in the second line. He sighed, closing his eyes, then took a deep breath. He could do this, completely focused. At least, he hoped so. So, crouching down, Lelouch got ready to run.

The teacher blew his whistle and the first line dashed. Lelouch tried not to watch Suzaku, but he found his eyes trailing after the chocolate brown-haired boy. He shook his head, and then heard the whistle. He didn't hesitate, taking off at a decent speed that wasn't too fast or too slow.

It wasn't long before he caught up to line 1. Lelouch spotted Suzaku suddenly and for some reason, focused solely on Suzaku. His legs burned from the exertion of his muscles, his sides were screaming in pain, and it seemed every breath he took ripped apart his lungs, yet he continued to run.

His vision suddenly flashed and he stumbled, but continued to run. Vaguely, he swore he heard someone shout his name. There was a flash of pain. And suddenly, he was looking at the ground… then nothing.

#

"Lelouch… Lelouch!" He blinked slowly and found himself staring at the sky. Lelouch groaned and tried to cover his eyes, but he found Milly Ashford leaned over him, her eyes worried. Then he noticed Rivalz, Shirley… and Suzaku. Lelouch closed his eyes again and groaned.

"What happened?" he mumbled, slowly opening his violet eyes.

Milly tsked and helped Lelouch sit up. "You shouldn't push yourself so hard, Lelouch. It's not good for you."

"You passed out right in the middle of the track, Lulu. You should be more careful!" Shirley scolded.

"Yeah, what was up with that?" Rivalz demanded.

Suzaku was the only one who asked, "Are you all right?"

Lelouch nodded to Suzaku and tried to stand. His legs collapsed out under him. Suzaku, out of reflex, caught Lelouch and helped hoist him up.

"Kururugi! Take Lamperouge to the nurse," the gym teacher barked, and then turned to his other students. The rest of Lelouch friends watched as he stumbled along with Suzaku.

Suzaku glanced at Lelouch as they walked, noticing Lelouch blank gaze. "So, why did you push yourself so hard?" he asked after a moment.

Lelouch jolted back into reality and looked at Suzaku carefully. "Maybe I wanted to be more active."

Suzaku laughed and looked back at Lelouch. The serious look on his face wiped the smile from Suzaku's face. "You're serious?"

After a moment, Lelouch nodded.

"Why do you want to?"

Lelouch shrugged.

"And why aren't you talking to me directly?"

Lelouch sighed and shrugged again. "I'm not in a talkative mood." After a moment, he added quickly, "It hurts to talk."

Suzaku nodded in understanding. The two walked and limped in silence until they arrived to the nurse's office. She bustled around, clucking like a mother hen over Lelouch. Suzaku stayed out of the nurse's way, quietly observing.

She clicked her tongue and gave Lelouch a long look. "Lelouch, you cannot push yourself so hard. So far, your muscles are going to be screaming in pain for the next several days, your throat is going to be raw, and you'll be lucky to be able to breathe properly. No one, especially someone as unfit as you, should never, ever run until you pass out!" She looked over at Suzaku. "Are you going to watch over him?"

Suzaku blinked, surprised, but he nodded.

The nurse nodded and smiled at Suzaku. "Well, I'm glad there are some people in this academy who don't mind spending time together, even though you're of different races."

Suzaku grinned. Lelouch grimaced and tried to sit up. The nurse pushed him back down and turned to Suzaku. "I want him on bed rest for today and if he still isn't able to move on his own, he should be tomorrow too. There will be some medicine he needs to take for the pain in the muscles and his throat should be solved with a syrup of mine."

"All right, can you give me the times I should give him the medicine?"

The nurse nodded and began to collect the medicine. For several minutes, her and Suzaku talked quietly over by her counter, Suzaku observing a bottle of very large pills and nodding occasionally.

Finally, Suzaku came over to Lelouch and helped him sit up.

"I'll carry him back to his room," Suzaku said, already knowing Lelouch wouldn't want to use a wheelchair.

The nurse nodded her agreement, handing a bag to Suzaku. She looked over at Lelouch. "You need to be more careful, understand?"

Lelouch nodded, though concentration was trying to get onto his feet. Suzaku ended up putting Lelouch's arm over his shoulders again. They walked back to his room silently, where Suzaku helped Lelouch in bed.

"Thanks… Suzaku," Lelouch murmured as his eyes began to close. Suzaku sat on the edge of Lelouch's bed.

"Take some medicine first," Suzaku urged, holding out a pill and glass of water for Lelouch. After a moment, he nodded, sitting up slightly. After the pill and water was down, Suzaku gave Lelouch some of the syrup, and finally allowed the boy to rest.

#

Lelouch woke up late in the afternoon. He yawned widely and sat up. His muscle screamed for him to lay back down, but he had to go pee. Really bad. So he struggled out of bed.

Once he swung his feet over the edge of the bed and was fully sitting up, he sat there for a moment, with his eyes closed from the pain. But not too long, he pushed himself up again and began to stumble to the main bathroom.

He didn't think to knock on the door. He was sure he was alone. So why, when he opened the door, was Suzaku in the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist? Lelouch's cheeks tinged to a light pink and he quickly stammered an apology as he started to close the door.

"I'll be gone in a moment Lelouch. Do you need to use the bathroom?"

"Yeah," Lelouch murmured. He leaned against the wall, the image of Suzaku's body in his mind. This didn't help Lelouch at all. He just wanted to forget about his unrequited love to the Japanese boy, but it seemed every time he was close to it, something seemed to snare him back. It was so infuriating.

Suddenly the door opened and out walked Suzaku. Lelouch started to straighten up, but instead, his leg muscles decided to give out. Lelouch collapsed to the floor with a grunt.

In an instant, Suzaku was beside Lelouch and helped him to his feet. Lelouch tried to ignore the fact every time Suzaku moved Lelouch could feel the muscles of his arm and chest. It didn't help that Suzaku wasn't dressed yet or that his skin was still slightly wet.

"Are you going to be able to get out of the bathroom yourself?" Suzaku wondered as he helped lower Lelouch onto the closed toilet lid. Lelouch nodded, jolting into reality.

"Yeah, I think. I'll call if I can't." Suzaku nodded and left the bathroom.

After Lelouch was finished using the bathroom, he struggled back into his bottoms and shakily stood up. He managed to wash his hands and started back to his room at a slow pace. Suzaku walked out of the spare room as Lelouch began to pass.

"Do you need help?" Suzaku wondered, only his green eyes expressing how concerned he really was. Lelouch didn't want to rely on Suzaku; he could take care of himself! But, as he looked at Suzaku's eyes, then face, he couldn't help but sigh and nod once. Suzaku's relief was clear as he put one of Lelouch's arms over his shoulder and then Suzaku wrapped his own arm around Lelouch's waist.

"Thanks, for helping," Lelouch said after a moment.

Suzaku grinned. "I don't mind. I do like you aren't arguing against any of my help. Normally, you hate any form of help…" Suzaku trailed off, but grinned again at Lelouch. "It just shows how much I don't know about you in seven years."

Lelouch couldn't help, but smile. Suzaku had no idea. Lelouch said, "At least with you moving in with Nunnally, Rolo, and I, we'll get close again."

Suzaku nodded his agreement and opened Lelouch's bedroom door. After Suzaku helped him sit on his bed, Lelouch asked him to grab his pajamas, which were neatly folded on top of a dark oak dresser. Suzaku handed them to Lelouch, along with some more pills ("You need to take them every two hours," Suzaku said). Lelouch had to take the pills before Suzaku would leave the room. Lelouch eased out of his bottoms with surprising ease, then stripped off his shirt with more difficulty.

Once he was redressed, he fell back on his bed with a groan and began to close his eyes. Nunnally and Rolo wouldn't be home for another two hours. He could sleep for a while longer…

But his mind trailed to Shirley. He knew how she felt; her feelings for him were unrequited just as his liking for Suzaku was. He felt terrible for not being able to return the feelings, but he didn't want to hurt her by pretending he liked her. If only he could get his mind to unattach itself from his feelings, life would be better. Life was ironic like that. Sometimes, such as this situation, it could be a bitch as well.

Lelouch only sighed and forced his mind clear. Before he had a chance to fall asleep himself, his medicine took over and succumbed him to unconsciousness.

**~A/N~**

**Thanks so much for all the reviews! It helps so much with my motivation for the story. So, I know a lot about those who don't review, but add my story to their alerts or favorites. You should review also! It's just an amazing thing to do.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading this next chappie too! I hoped you enjoyed.**

**So... until next time...**

**XxXMorganXxXLEAHXxX**


	4. Chapter 4: Care

**Chapter Four: Care**

Lelouch woke slowly, and instantly wished he was asleep. Had he gotten ran over by a truck? No, it was a few kids of the student body who trampled him, if Lelouch recalled correctly… So, okay, he hadn't been trampled. It felt like it though.

After a moment, he opened his eyes and winced at the bright light that shone through his window. He struggled into a sitting position, but he wasn't able to stay up. He collapsed back onto his bed and winced at the pain again.

As he was trying to recover from his failed attempt at getting up, there was a knock on his bedroom door. Lelouch looked over at his door and called weakly, "You can come in."

The door open and in popped Rolo, timidly looking around his bedroom. Lelouch smiled at Rolo and beckoned him in.

"B-big brother, how are you feeling?" he asked softly as he closed the door and walked in the room.

"I'm doing fine," Lelouch answered, weakly trying to sit up again. It was futile.

"Would you like me to get Suzaku?" Rolo wondered. He began to stand up.

"Wait, Rolo, I'd like to ask you something."

"What is it?" Rolo wondered, looking slightly concerned.

Lelouch tried to sit up again, but decided to prop himself up on his elbows. "Are you dating someone?"

"W-what?" Rolo squeaked, eyes widening.

Lelouch had been suspecting this for a long time.

"Are you dating someone? It doesn't matter who it is, I'd just like to know why you've been running off so much lately," Lelouch continued, noticing Rolo's guilty and slightly scared look.

"Suzaku is going to want to know you're awake," Rolo mumbled, standing up and walking away from Lelouch's room quickly.

Well, that gave Lelouch an answer. But who could Rolo be seeing? He hadn't even known Rolo was interested in anyone.

Lelouch was still brooding over the information when Suzaku knocked and opened his door. Suzaku smiled at Lelouch. "I'm glad to see you're awake. Can you sit up?"

"No, I can't move much," he admitted. Suzaku smiled and helped him up. Lelouch wanted to stretch his muscles, but his arms and legs screamed their protest the moment he moved one limb. So, he leaned against Suzaku instead and allowed Suzaku to help him sit up.

"You should probably get dressed first," Suzaku suggested as he helped prop Lelouch up against his headboard.

Lelouch nodded. "Just hand me a sweatshirt and sweatpants. I'll be too sore for much else."

Suzaku got Lelouch's clothes for him and left the room temporarily.

After Lelouch struggled into his clothes, he tried to stand. He wasn't able to. So, he called for Suzaku. Suzaku appeared in an instant and helped Lelouch stand.

"Are you feeling any better?" Suzaku wondered as he and Lelouch walked out to the hall.

"My throat is," Lelouch said, deciding it was best not to pretend his throat hurt so much. "And my legs feel slightly stronger. Not much, mind you," he added. Suzaku nodded, understanding. Lelouch felt a pang of guilt.

They walked into the dining room.

"Oh, Lelouch!" Nunnally started to wheel herself away from the table, but Suzaku walked Lelouch over by his sister and helped him down into a seat.

Lelouch asked, "How was your day, Nunnally?" while pretending he felt much better.

"Are you all right?" she asked, ignoring his question.

Lelouch smiled at his sister and took her hand. "Of course, Nunnally." She smiled brightly.

"Well, my day wasn't as interesting as yours I'm sure, but we learned a lot about Japan before 2010," Nunnally explained, turning to Rolo, who added to the conversation. Sayoko brought over a glass of water for Lelouch. He frowned and gave her a questioning look.

"Suzaku said you needed water to take your pills," Sayoko explained, handing him two pills as well. Lelouch sighed and took the pills.

"Am I going to have to take the throat syrup as well, Suzaku?" Lelouch asked as the chocolate brown-haired boy walked into the room. Faintly, Lelouch wondered where he had been, though the thought left his mind a moment later.

Suzaku nodded and handed a tablespoon and the syrup bottle over to Lelouch. Lelouch managed to drink a tablespoon of the syrup, but Suzaku had to help with the second dose. Lelouch was more embarrassed than hating the situation. He just wished his siblings weren't around the witness the moment.

Lelouch swallowed some more water, turned, and asked Rolo about his day. He didn't talk much about his school work; he explained more of what he did with Gino. Lelouch nodded, pretending to be interested. He felt too weak to actually get into a conversation.

It was a few minutes in before Sayoko brought dinner out. It consisted of a roast, mashed potatoes, cooked carrots and onions, sweet rolls, and a french silk pie for dessert. Lelouch didn't eat much and didn't touch dessert. He drank some water after dinner and planned to play a board game with Nunnally, Rolo, and Suzaku. Suzaku interrupted him and told Lelouch he had to go back to rest in his room.

"Suzaku, I feel fine," Lelouch argued, but Suzaku shook his head and helped Lelouch to his feet. Nunnally and Rolo bid Lelouch good night and then decided to watch some television.

"Would you like help into your pajamas?" Suzaku wondered while they stumbled down the hall.

"I should be fine enough to do it," Lelouch said. He tried to walk without stumbling, but it was difficult.

Suzaku helped Lelouch into his room and set the pajamas on the bed.

"I'll sleep in the living room tonight," Suzaku commented as he headed towards the door.

"You don't need to sleep in the living room," Lelouch replied. "We can still-"

"You're hurt Lelouch-"

"Yes, but if I need your help-"

"I'm not that far. You could shout for m-"

"Why don't we ask Milly to borrow an air mattress?" Lelouch suddenly decided.

"She has air mattresses?"

"Of course she does. Just go ask her for one and then you can stay in my room still. It solves several problems."

"That's a good point."

"Great, then we have a plan. Thankfully, in a couple days we'll have your bedroom too when we move to a new room."

"I still feel bad about imposing on you guys like that..."

"You know you're welcome any time." Lelouch smiled at Suzaku and began to strip off his shirt with difficulties.

"Are you sure you're fine?" Suzaku inquired.

Lelouch simply nodded, focused to get his shirt off.

"Here, let me help you." Suzaku walked over to Lelouch and sat down next to the raven-haired boy. Lelouch jumped, and then winced at the pain that caused. "Hey, be careful, Lelouch," he scolded. He began to tug at Lelouch's shirt.

"I-it's all right, I can do it, Suzaku," Lelouch stammered, but Suzaku ignored Lelouch's protest and pulled the shirt over his head.

Suzaku saw the blush on Lelouch's face. His brow furrowed and he went to ask what was wrong, when it dawned on him. His eyes widened.

"I'm sorry, Lelouch, I… I didn't mean to…I didn't know…"

Lelouch's eyes widened. Did Suzaku figure it out? "What do you mean?"

"I know you don't like it when you're this weak. When I stepped up to help you, I'm sure that didn't help the matter."

Lelouch's calm settled in. "It's quite all right." Suzaku didn't suspect then. Good… "Do you need help with the mattress? I can help-"

"You're strength hasn't returned, so don't bother trying." Suzaku got off Lelouch's bed, set Lelouch's pajamas on his bed, and left the room. Lelouch managed to slip his bottoms off and put new ones back on, but once again he struggled with his shirt.

Suzaku returned as Lelouch threw the article of clothing on the ground. He grinned at Lelouch, who glared back.

"It isn't funny," Lelouch grumbled, already eying the medication and syrup. Suzaku sat on the edge of the bed and offered a glass. Lelouch took the water. "Are you sure I have to sleep now?" he wondered, already knowing the answer. The look on Suzaku's face confirmed it. He sighed and took the pills quickly, gulping down some water as well. Then he took two tablespoons of syrup and slowly lay back on his bed. It wouldn't be too long before the medicine took effect.

"I'll be back after a while," Suzaku said as he stood up.

Lelouch nodded, watching as Suzaku walked out of the room. He sighed and closed his eyes. There was no point trying to fight the medication. Not that it took him long enough to fall asleep to allow the medication to kick in. He was exhausted and fell asleep quickly.

Suzaku returned a while later, the air mattress bag thrown over his shoulder. He smiled as he saw Lelouch was already asleep. Quietly, he began to set up the mattress. In ten minutes, it was ready, not that Suzaku was ready for bed. It was much too early. So he went out to the living room to join Nunnally and Rolo.

The night flew by in a blur. Suzaku didn't hear a pipe from Lelouch, even when he went to check on the raven-haired boy every couple hours. Eventually, Gino arrived at the dorm, wondering if he could steal Rolo away for some help at Gino's dorm. Rolo jumped on the chance, though he seemed a little too excited. Suzaku didn't think anything of it, just informed Rolo he needed to be home before ten. Gino promised to have him back before then and, with an arm draped Rolo's shoulders, the two walked off.

Soon after that, Nunnally and Suzaku started a game of _Scrabble_ in the kitchen. After three games ("I win every time, Suzaku!"), Gino and Rolo returned. Gino and Rolo went to the living room to watch some television for another hour. After Nunnally and Suzaku finished a fourth game, they decided to join the two males in the living room. Nunnally wheeled off to the living room while Suzaku got a glass of water. What she saw when she entered the room didn't surprise her.

She wasn't sure how they hadn't heard her. Well, they were both distracted; Rolo was lying on his back and Gino was straddling his waist, each kissing the other. "What are you doing?" Nunnally giggled.

Gino looked up and grinned at Nunnally. "Hey, Nunna," he greeted, getting off of Rolo, who sat up. Rolo was blushing like crazy, looking guilty. Nunnally smiled at the two, then, when Suzaku entered the room, scolded, "I told you two not to rough house in the living room. Big brother wouldn't like it if anything in this room was destroyed."

Suzaku went to reply when he heard Sayoko enter the room. "Suzaku, Lelouch is in need of some assistance," the maid said with a smile. Suzaku nodded and walked back towards the bedroom.

Lelouch was already sitting up, though Suzaku noticed he was already out of breath. He pretended not to notice, especially when Lelouch cursed softly. Suzaku knocked on the open bedroom door and grinned at Lelouch.

"You're looking better, Lelouch," Suzaku said as he walked into the room. "Would you be ready for school tomorrow?"

"Oh, yes, I feel like I could run a mile," Lelouch replied sarcastically, glaring at the Japanese boy lightly.

Suzaku grinned back and picked up the bottle of pills by his bedside. "Do you feel all right enough to not use the pills?"

"I just need to go to the bathroom," Lelouch said. "I just can't seem to walk all the way over there."

"Well, let's go then," Suzaku said, helping Lelouch to his feet.

Within minutes, Suzaku was already taking Lelouch back to his bed, but he refused to lie down. "I want to spend some time with you, Nunnally, and Rolo," Lelouch said. "It's not too long before bedtime anyway."

"Lelouch-"

"Suzaku, this is my home-"

"Oh, don't use that excuse."

"I'm serious."

"Lelouch, the nurse wanted you on bed rest until tomorrow-"

"I don't care! I'm tired of being in bed."

Suzaku sighed. "Fine, you can come out for a few minutes, but don't expect it for very long."

Lelouch grinned. "I knew you'd see it my way."

Suzaku rolled his eyes and began to walk a limping Lelouch out of his room, when he decided. He paused and scooped Lelouch up into his arms.

"Suzaku! What are you doing?" Lelouch clung to the Japanese boy, not sure what to think.

"I'm not going to drop you, Lelouch-"

Then he did the exact thing he said he wouldn't do. Suzaku dropped Lelouch and stared openly, eyes wide in shock and horror, as he saw Gino lean in and kiss Rolo.

Lelouch's groan of pain broke apart the two kissers. "Big brother!" Rolo exclaimed, rushing over to Lelouch's side.

"Hey, Suzaku," Gino said sheepishly, grinning slightly. "I was going to tell you guys… eventually…"

Lelouch opened his eyes and asked softly, voice laced in pain, "Rolo, why hadn't you told me you liked Gino?"

It took Suzaku a second to realize Lelouch wasn't in his arms. He crouched down, mumbling, "Not again, not again," though after a moment, he asked, "Lelouch are you all right?"

"What do you think?" Lelouch growled, glaring at Suzaku. He continued in a mocking voice, "'Oh, Lelouch I won't drop you'. Liar…"

"Let's get you to your room." Suzaku tried to hoist Lelouch up, but the Britannian struggled against his grasp.

"You'll just drop me again," Lelouch argued.

Gino, while he was amused by what was going on, offered, "Would you like me to carry him, Suzaku?"

"No, that's all right," Suzaku said, finally picking up the Britannian boy as the last of his strength faded from him.

Lelouch grumbled, but didn't struggle any longer. Suzaku grinned and began to walk out of the room. As they started from the room, Lelouch called out, "Gino, we're going to have a long talk later."

Then they were gone from the room and down the hall towards the bedrooms. Suzaku's grin faded and he looked disturbed. "I'm sorry I dropped you," Suzaku said after a moment of silence.

"I'm fine, really. It wasn't good for you to see Gino and Rolo."

"Well, I had a feeling about Gino, but… Rolo? I didn't suspect that one bit. It doesn't help they were… you know, after I saw Kallen and Milly…"

"Hey, it's all okay," Lelouch comforted. "It's not as if any guy is interested in you…"

"Yeah, I'm glad for that."

Suzaku didn't see Lelouch flinch or the hurt look that crossed his face.

As Suzaku walked over and set Lelouch onto his bed, Lelouch asked, "Suzaku, can you make sure that Nunnally is comfortable when she goes to sleep?"

"Of course I will," Suzaku promised.

Lelouch nodded and lay back down, then said, "I don't think I need anything to sleep tonight."

Suzaku nodded and stood up. "I'll be back soon." Then he was gone.

Lelouch was going to try to be awake until Suzaku returned, but he fell asleep before then.

Suzaku smiled when he returned and saw Lelouch was asleep. He got ready for bed, made his bed on the mattress, and lay down to sleep.

Suzaku slept like the dead. He didn't wake until the alarm in the morning. That's when he noticed two things; there was white stuff everywhere.

And two, Lelouch was gone.

**~Author's Note~**

**Well, I expected this to be slightly longer, but I didn't want to start the festival quite yet. This will be fun though.**

**Thank you for all the reviews. It's what inspires to write this fanfic.**

**XxXMorganXxXLEAHXxX  
**


	5. Chapter 5: Winter Spirit Part 1

**Chapter Five: Winter Spirit**

Oh, Lelouch was gone. Suzaku's eyes closed again. Lelouch… was gone. Suzaku jumped up from his bed, eyes widening. What happened to Lelouch?! Did someone kidnap him? Or… Suzaku didn't finish the thought, but dashed straight for the window. Wait, why was everything white? He pushed open the window and took a handful of the white stuff. It was freezing and wet.

"There's snow?" Suzaku mumbled. A grin formed on his face. It was ironic, considering how Milly had just been talking about it in school.

Suzaku shook his head and turned back towards the room, which was currently missing Lelouch. He quickly yanked a shirt over his head and threw the bedroom door open. There Lelouch stood in a towel. "Lelouch? God, where were you?!" Suzaku said, concerned.

Lelouch grinned. "I got into the shower. I woke up this morning and felt great. So I thought I'd get a shower. You know, since we have school and all."

"You're okay? Nothing hurts?"

Lelouch shrugged, then inquired, "Can I get into my room? I really don't enjoy standing in my hall, stark naked." It was then Suzaku realized Lelouch was in a towel. A blush crept into his cheeks and he quickly stepped aside. Lelouch walked into his room.

"Did you see the outside?" Suzaku asked as he started out the bedroom.

"No," Lelouch said, looking out the window. His eyes widened. "Is that-?" But Suzaku had already left the room. Glancing out the bedroom window one last time, Lelouch got his uniform ready. Whayt was with the snow? Japan hadn't had any in ages. Not since 2010. Lelouch wondered why it would start suddenly.

He put on his school uniform. It was a painful and stiff process, but he needed to go to classes today. Suzaku wouldn't be around all day. Lelouch hated to admit it, but his feelings for Suzaku were expanding. That led him to wanting to see the Japanese boy as much as possible. And going to school was the best way to. It was good that Suzaku would be around at night for a while now, since Lelouch was injured. It would be especially wonderful if Suzaku began staying at his home more often.

It took several minutes longer to get dressed. Once Lelouch had the last button buttoned, he collapsed on his bed, exhausted. If just getting dressed took most of Lelouch's energy, what would happen when he was walking between classes all the time?

He forced his body to get up and walked into the hallway. Lelouch walked into the dining room where Nunnally, Rolo, and Sayoko were already present. "Good morning big brother!" Nunnally said brightly, smiling.

"Are you feeling better?" Rolo asked, standing up to help Lelouch.

"I'm fine. Actually, I'm going to go to school," Lelouch replied. "Have either of you seen the outside?"

Both sibling shook their heads. Rolo and Nunnally started for the window. Sayoko smiled at Lelouch. "So you've seen the snow, my lord?"

Lelouch nodded. "You must be excited, Sayoko."

"I am. I haven't seen snow since I was a little girl."

"I'm excited also. Neither Nunnally nor I have seen snow since we left Britannia."

Sayoko nodded and asked, "Is Suzaku going to be ready soon?"

"Yes," Lelouch said.

"Breakfast should be ready in ten minutes." Then she started for the kitchen again. Lelouch lowered himself into a chair, trying to not make it obvious he was struggling. Neither Nunnally nor Rolo noticed.

Suzaku came out only moments later. He looked refreshed and quite frankly happy. Lelouch sneakily peeked over at him out of the corner of his eye when Suzaku walked over to Nunnally and Rolo. Within moments, Suzaku was walking over to Lelouch. Suzaku sat across from him.

"So you're feeling all better?" Lelouch shrugged. He didn't feel like worrying Suzaku today. Besides it wasn't terrible pain. It just left him exhausted.

Thankfully, Sayoko came back before Suzaku had a chance to question Lelouch anymore. Nunnally and Rolo came to the kitchen table also. Breakfast was eventful and somewhat painful for Lelouch. He could only hope that today would go by quickly.

It wasn't long before Suzaku got Lelouch to leave for school early. Lelouch had no idea why they were leaving early, but he didn't mind.

"Oh, Lelouch, the president wanted us to go down to the Student Council Meeting room today. She said she wanted everyone there," Suzaku said.

"Did she say why?" Lelouch asked, a growing sense of fear blooming.

"No."

"I think I'll skip."

"You won't be able to," Milly said as she walked up behind the two boys. Both boys jumped, Lelouch flinching slightly. Thankfully, neither Suzaku nor Milly seemed to notice. "Well, let's keep moving," Milly said, looping both her arms around Lelouch's and Suzaku's arms.

"Where's Kallen?" Lelouch asked.

"She's outside," Milly said, a smile forming on her face. It faded and she asked, "How are you feeling?"

Lelouch shrugged. "I'm fine." Everyone fell silent. Suzaku broke it.

"With all the snow around, it's sure to be an interesting day," Suzaku said.

"Well we'll find out now!" Milly said cheerfully as they arrived at the main doors. They all went outside. The cold wind hit Lelouch first. Then the snowball.

Lelouch wasn't sure how to react. He just kind of stood there. Then he proceeded to wipe the snow from his eyes. He wasn't sure who threw it; it was either Rivalz, Kallen, or Shirley. Either way, he leaned over and quickly made a ball of his own. Then he aimed right for Rivalz.

He had no idea his specialty was snowball fights. He hit Rivalz dead on, then proceeded after Kallen and Shirley. They both got hit too. Pain pulsed through his arm, but he enjoyed the feeling of throwing snow so much he took no notice it.

Then he was hit in the side of his head. He quickly reacted, scooping up snow, rounding it, and throwing it as he moved. He nailed Suzaku, who was in the process of trying to move away. Milly quickly scooped up snow as well and stood back to back with Lelouch. "Are you ready?" Milly wondered, grinning slightly.

Lelouch nodded, looking serious. He remembered his old games when he played with Milly, Nunnally, and all of his half siblings. Nunnally, Milly, and Lelouch used to team up against everyone else. They always won. But he had no idea most of the time they won was because of him.

Milly was a good shot, but not nearly as accurate. So she mostly got snow ready for Lelouch and protected him when he was getting his own snow. They quickly took to one side and made tons of snow while fending off the others. Snow flew back and forth, the wind whipped through all their clothing and other students began to come outside. Neither Milly nor Lelouch took notice. They started a fort while throwing snow. They usually took turns.

"All right, now to the left, Lelouch," Milly said, crouched over their mound of snow. Lelouch took aim. Miss. And then he was hit from the other side. Quickly, he scooped up two balls from their pile and threw one at Rivalz, the other at Shirley. Rivalz was grazed, but Shirley was hit head on. Suzaku started at them, but Milly got him.

The others started to fall back. Suspicious, but taking the advantage, Lelouch crouched down and helped finish off the snow fort. He could tell he was starting to shake, but Lelouch ignored it and continued to make some snowballs.

Still no one attacked. Curious, Lelouch and Milly took an armful of snowballs and started away from their fort. There were two buildings around them and when they started around one corner, there was all four students. The two were attacked.

It was an all-out war. Lelouch and Milly threw all their ammo. Kallen and Shirley made more snowballs, Rivalz and Suzaku continued to throw over and over. Attacks from the mini war came as well. They had all forgotten the other students. All six people turned around and began to throw at them instead. Through the crowd, Lelouch saw Rolo and Nunnally. He was surprised; Nunnally was on Rolo's back with snow balls. She was great aim too. It made Lelouch smile

This went on for nearly half an hour, until teachers came out and broke up the party. Every student was soaked when they walked into the school. All the teachers brought warm blankets for the students and passed out hot chocolate in the cafeteria. Classes would be delayed, but everyone was going to make up that time that afternoon, as a way of punishment for the snowball war.

Lelouch found Rolo and Nunnally easily enough. They came over by the rest of the Student Council, Nunnally once again back in her wheelchair. Nunnally began talking about the thrill of snowball fights. Milly and the others agreed and began talking about all the fun all of them had.

Then Milly was standing, calling for silence. Everyone was silent in a moment, looking at the Student Council President. She smiled and said clearly, "Thank you all for falling quiet so quickly. Now today, I wanted to announce the theme for the first day for our festival The 12 Days of Christmas. From now on, I'll announce each day at the end of the school day." Everyone started cheering, Milly falling silent again. When she raised her hand, everyone got quiet. Milly started speaking again. "Today is Christmas Spirit! Since we all have two hours before class now, everyone can get ready before class! I want everyone to vote who has the best holiday spirit at lunch and tell us who are Lord or Lady will be for the first day! This is all very important, so please do vote."

Then she sat down again. Everyone started buzzing around, speaking and leaving the room. Milly was grinning evilly. "I want everyone in the Student Council room in ten minutes," Milly told everyone at her table, "Even you Nunnally." Then her, Shirley, and Kallen left.

"I have a bad feeling," Lelouch said, sighing. He winced as he moved his arms. The pain was more noticeable now. He could only hope it would fade soon.

"Should we just go there now and see what it is Milly has planned?" Suzaku asked.

"Might as well," Rivalz said and started to stand up. Lelouch started to as well, but his legs gave out. He hissed in pain and discreetly looked over at all the student council. No one had noticed yet that he hadn't gotten up. He tried again.

The pain was excruciating, but Lelouch managed to stay on his feet. He walked up next to Suzaku and then all three boys started for the Student Council Room. They ran into Gino along the way, though Suzaku was acting a little strange around him. Surprisingly, for the most part the Japanese boy acted natural. He was managing with the shock pretty well. Suzaku must be getting used to it.

When they arrived at the Student Council Room, Lelouch hesitated. Milly didn't normally call an early meeting. She must have some sort of plan. "I don't think I'm going to go," Lelouch said, starting to step away.

"Come on, Lelouch," Suzaku said. "Even if she has something planned, it couldn't be too bad."

"You haven't known her as long as I have," Lelouch replies. "When she has something planned, it's nearly pure torture."

"I don't think so," Suzaku argued.

Lelouch gave him a puzzled look. "Suzaku, I have a few questions."

Suzaku gave him a defiant look. "What are they?"

"Who here has known Milly for almost most of her life?"

Suzaku sighed. "You, but that doesn't mean-"

"And who's been through all of high school with the witch?"

"I'm aware, but I'm just trying to say-"

"So then who therefore knows Milly better?"

Suzaku sighed, shrugging in defeat. "You aren't going to listen to me, so I'll be silent."

Lelouch nodded. "This just proves my point more."

Suzaku gave a cool look at the Britannian. "All right, if you don't shut up now, I will push you down the stairs."

That kept Lelouch silent. Rivalz looked between the two and then shrugged. "I guess we should head in," he said and walked forward. Lelouch hesitated, but when he glanced at the Japanese boy he decided to go too. The whole point going to school today was to be with Suzaku. Which made him think… With a sigh, Lelouch walked up to Suzaku and said quietly, "Sorry for being such an ass, Suzaku."

Suzaku glanced at Lelouch and gave him a large smile. "It's fine, Lelouch," he said, sliding an arm over Lelouch's shoulders. "I wasn't really that upset anyway."

Lelouch grinned, but it wasn't from relief. It was from the tingling sensation shooting up and down his arms. Suzaku didn't give physical contact very much. Anytime he did, it was usually to girls anyways. So this was a rare pleasure.

But the pleasure ended too soon because Milly popped her head out in the hall. She gave a sneaky grin to Lelouch and said to both, "Aren't you going to come in? We're all waiting for you."

Suzaku stepped away from Lelouch and walked into the room. Lelouch followed right after him and found himself glancing at Suzaku's wonderful ass as he walked. When he passed Milly, she leaned over and whispered, "Did you enjoy what Suzaku was doing?"

Lelouch shrugged. He glanced at Milly. "Just don't say anything."

"Oh, I just wanted to say that won't be the last. I promise." Lelouch gave her a confused look, but she pushed him into the room. Lelouch stared in horror.

He had been right.

Milly was going to make this festival a living hell.

Suzaku was already half undressed from his normal school uniform. He had brown hair extensions in his hair to make it longer. On top of it, Kallen was in the middle of unbuttoning the white dress shirt. Rivalz was already completely topless and he had half a face covered in make-up.

Milly grabbed a hold of Lelouch's hands before he had a chance to dash and handcuffed him. He tried to get out of her grasp, but she had a good grip. "Now Lelouch, you're going to work with me today. We're going to keep you in handcuffs while we do your hair, but we'll have to remove them when we're stripping you of clothes. If you work well today, I won't make the next eleven days a living hell. Otherwise, each day for the rest of the school year will be a living nightmare for you."

"I'll work with you," Lelouch mumbled.

"Great!" Milly grinned. She walked Lelouch over to a chair and pushed him into the seat. "I'll take off the handcuffs long enough to take off your shirt. DON'T MOVE."

Lelouch was still as Milly unbuttoned and stripped him of his uniform. Then the real hell began.

#

#

"What do you think, Shirley? Does Lelouch have enough make-up on?" Milly asked, stepping back to admire her work.

Shirley stepped away from Suzaku and looked at Lelouch. Then she nodded. "Yeah, he's fine, but Suzaku on the other hand…" Milly stepped away from Lelouch temporarily to examine Suzaku. The two girls began whispering and glancing between Suzaku and Lelouch.

Lelouch wasn't sure exactly how he looked, but from the sounds Rivalz and Suzaku were making, he had a feeling he looked pretty ridiculous. He shot a glare at Rivalz, who kept snickering every time he looked over at Lelouch. Rivalz didn't look terrible; so far he had on a white beard and Milly had completely sprayed his hair white. He had hair extensions in, also white, so that the hair reached just past his shoulder bones. Suzaku looked much nicer, and younger. His hair was shorter than Rivalz (his reached just to his shoulders) and darker, nearly black. Shirley had straightened his hair and put in shorter hair extensions. He also had a little make-up on.

Suddenly there was a flash. Lelouch looked over at Milly, who held up a camera. She giggled. "We have to get pictures of everything!" She took several more pictures of Lelouch and then went to Suzaku and Rivalz. She did the same to them.

"What exactly are you planning with us anyway?" Lelouch asked coolly, fidgeting in the handcuffs and straining at the rope around his body. He had tried to escape when Milly had originally started putting on make-up, so Milly restrained him with rope too.

Milly grinned. "Well, Kallen and I had been thinking about it. We have enough people to pair everyone up to do a Mr./Mrs. Claus cute pairs. We thought it would work well for our club, but there is one problem. There has to be a pair that is two guys…"

Suddenly Lelouch knew what Milly was planning.

"Wait, but we have an equal amount of boys and girls in the club," Shirley said, pausing.

Milly sighed and shook her head. "Who do you think I'm going to be with?" Milly asked.

"Ooh…" Shirley giggled. "Well, I know I'm with Rivalz, so that must mean Suzaku and Lelouch are together."

"…" Suzaku looked at Lelouch, who shrugged.

"Well, let's get them into their costumes and then let everyone see their faces," Kallen said, pushing a rack of clothes in. They were all Christmas themed.

"All right, but Kallen, you'll need to restrain Lelouch. He's been very naughty," Milly said, looking for Lelouch's outfit. "That's why he's going to wear the outfit for the whole day instead of just half the day."

Lelouch really didn't want to wear whatever outfit they had picked out for him all day. So he suggested, "If I get into my outfit willingly, can I have it on until after lunch?"

Milly was thoughtful for a moment. "You have to have it on until the end of sixth period."

Lelouch ground his teeth, but agreed. After a moment, Shirley untied Lelouch. Milly nodded to Suzaku. "He can get dressed with Lelouch in the closet over there." Shirley unlocked both Lelouch's and Suzaku's handcuffs.

They were both handed a bagged outfit and then pushed towards the closet. As the door was closing, both boys could hear Milly tell Kallen, "Rivalz can go after them and then we can get ready! We still have an hour."

Then the door was closed. Lelouch ran his hand along the wall until he found the light switch and then he flipped it on. The closet wasn't too large, but it wasn't cramped either. But Lelouch found it made an excuse to be closer to Suzaku than he normally would be.

As they began unzipping the bags, Suzaku sighed and said, "I hate to say it, but you were right."

Lelouch nodded grimly. "I wish I hadn't been. But I have to say, I told you so."

Suzaku rolled his eyes and pulled out his outfit. It wasn't awful. It was basically a reign deer outfit. Just great. What exactly was this supposed to be anyway?

Lelouch had opened his bag as well. It was terrible. Was Milly trying to torture him? Well, yeah she always was, but he hadn't thought she would go this low. His outfit was a girl's! It came with a nice matching red dress with white fluffies at the ends. It came with a santa hat, leggings, and matching red boots too.

"I'm not wearing that!" he said.

Milly, who had heard him, knocked lightly on the door. "Put it on now or else I'll make you wear it tomorrow too!" she ordered.

Suzaku looked over at Lelouch's outfit and burst out laughing. Lelouch glared over at Suzaku, but his glare was quickly lost. Suzaku was halfway undressed. His whole upper body was bare and he… well he was sexy. Lelouch couldn't help, but stare, watching the muscles ripple as he laughed. His abs were toned too and those pecks… Suddenly he heard a click and saw a flash and he spun around. Milly took a second picture and giggled. "You guys are taking too long! Now come on!"

Then she closed the door again. Suzaku cut off his own laughter with a cough and said, "Your outfit is very nice." Then he started snickering again. Lelouch pulled off his own shirt and threw it at Suzaku.

"It isn't funny," Lelouch frowned, then asked, "So do I really look like a girl?" Suzaku started laughing again and nodded. Lelouch grumbled and reached for the dress, slipping it over his head. Shrugging, Lelouch turned around enough to be able to barely see Suzaku. He hiked up the dress a little and started unbuttoning his own pants. The pain he managed to ignore for the time being began kicking in. He flinched and fumbled with the button. It was impossible to get open. He glanced at Suzaku, who was leaning over slightly and slipping off his own pants. Lelouch, while he slowly worked at his own pants, watched. The muscles on Suzaku's back were more noticeable.

The pants were slipped down those muscular legs…

Then Lelouch realized he got the button on his pants open. And Suzaku was starting to straighten up… Lelouch looked away quickly and pulled off his own pants. He turned away so Suzaku couldn't see his front view and hopefully hide the boner he was starting. He pulled down the dress, which surprisingly fit perfect. Then the leggings went on last. The leggings were a little bit of a chore, especially with Lulu junior down there doing one long sit-up.

Thankfully Lulu junior wasn't noticeable through the skirt. Lelouch looked back at Suzaku and had to admit; he looked amazing. But he tried not to stare and even said, "The outfit certainly suits you Suzaku."

Suzaku shrugged. "So does yours." Lelouch wanted to glare at Suzaku, but instead he started laughing.

"This is pretty hilarious," he said, eying Suzaku a little more confidently. Suzaku didn't seem to notice.

"Well, let's go," Suzaku sighed. He walked past Lelouch, brushing against Lelouch. He was still touching Lelouch when he stopped to open the door. They're hands were just barely brushing against each other. The urge to hold Suzaku's hand was immense, but Lelouch just let the contact stay where it was. He had waited ages to be this close. He wasn't going to screw it up.

Milly was at her laptop computer, smirking. She had a camera in that closet and could see how close they were. "Keep it closed, Kallen," Milly said softly, pushing the rolling chair next to the redhead. She slipped her hand with Kallen's and gave it a squeeze.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Kallen asked quietly. "I mean, you said he's homophobic-"

"He doesn't notice it with Lelouch like he does with other guys. I think it's a sign they're meant to be together!"

"But how are you going to knock out the homophobic thing in eleven days?"

"With my eleven step plan!" Milly said confidently and stood up high enough to kiss Kallen. "Trust me, this will work." Then Milly turned back to the laptop.

Lelouch and Suzaku stood close to each other, both knocking on the door. They were trying to get Milly to open it up, but she wasn't even answering. Lelouch was only half trying. The other half was enjoying every single moment he was closer to Suzaku. But he tried to shut down these feelings. He needed to get them under control. It wasn't right to let them be this free. Before long, Suzaku would disappear again, most likely to the military.

But he just wanted to enjoy these last few moments…

A couple minutes later, Milly finally opened the door and let them out. She grinned and said, "Go look at the body mirrors over there!" She pointed at the mirrors, and then ordered Shirley to get Rivalz. To everyone, she said, "We don't have much time. Shirley, Kallen, why don't you get dressed now?" The two nodded and got their outfits.

Lelouch and Suzaku walked up to the mirrors and took a look. Really took a look. Suzaku just looked adorable to Lelouch, but Lelouch on the other hand… he turned out to be a pretty good looking girl. And Suzaku found he was staring at Lelouch some. Which confused him. A lot.

"Oh, you guys are so adorable! Come on, turn around so I can get pictures!" Milly said. Both turned around. She snapped two pictures, one of each, then asked, "Can you guys get closer? And Suzaku, would you mind putting an arm around Lelouch? Preferably his waist…"

They moved closer together and Suzaku even put an arm around Lelouch. Milly snapped a quick photo, and noticed Suzaku was taller than Lelouch right away and asked, "Lelouch, can you lean your

head a little on Suzaku's shoulder? You two are supposed to look like a couple after all…"

"Sure!" Suzaku said, completely naïve to Milly's plan. She smirked a little and took another picture. Rivalz came out just as Suzaku and Lelouch were stepping apart. Lelouch actually stumbled a little. Suzaku noticed instantly and was at his side. "Are you okay, Lelouch?" he asked, sounding concerned.

"Yeah, I just need to sit down for a moment," Lelouch said. "There's no need to worry about me." In reality, Lelouch's pain was jumping up like crazy. But he had to pretend to be fine. So he casually walked over to the chair. Thankfully, no one looked when he got there and he collapsed into the seat.

Milly walked over a minute later. She reached over for a bag by Lelouch. He grabbed hold of her arm, lightly, but it got her attention. "What do you need Lelouch?" she asked cheerfully.

"What are you trying to do?" he asked quietly, glancing at Suzaku.

Milly looked over at him and snapped a discreet photo with her free hand.

"I'm just working with fate," she shrugged. She removed her arm and took her outfit off the rack. Milly walked over to the closet everyone had been in before her, then glanced around the corner at Lelouch and Suzaku. All three boys were talking now, but she could see both Suzaku and Lelouch kind of _looking _at each other discreetly so the other wouldn't know. Suzaku's seemed both confused and kind of interested. Lelouch's was one of longing and pain.

The looks both crushed Milly's heart, but also raised it. She really believed everything could work out great.

**~Author's Note~**

**I'm not sure what to make of this chapter myself. I'm not sure if I pushed too much of Lulu's liking for Suzaku or if I got a good amount. Your reviews will tell me. Thank you for all the reviews! They're highly inspiring and helped move this along faster.  
**

**I had ideas for the festival originally, but I lost the list. If anyone has any ideas, please tell me, they're very welcomed!  
**

**Thank you!  
**

**XxXMorganXxXLEAHXxX  
**


	6. Chapter 6: Winter Spirit Part 2

**A/N: I ask of the help from my readers. I had this entire festival planned out, but unfortunately it seems I have thrown this list away. I ask if you have any ideas for the festival, please share them. And I promise, any of your ideas will be given credit for you. Thank you-XmX  
**

**Chapter Six: Winter Spirit Part 2  
**

It wasn't long before Milly, Kallen, and Shirley were dressed in their costumes. By then Lelouch was already tired of the outfit he was wearing. He really wanted to get rid of it and burn it. Unfortunately he knew it would be futile. Milly would have some trick up her sleeve if he did do that. Besides, Suzaku seemed to like the outfit. So he had to grudgingly compliment the outfit Milly chose for him, secretly of course.

Lelouch, Suzaku, and Rivalz all got a good look at the three girls' outfits. They were all very interesting. Milly and Kallen looked like old-time people, from like the 1500s. Milly was dressed as the guy, with colored dark hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. Lelouch knew it was colored, not sprayed because she mentioned the other day during a meeting she was going to color it brown. She stood with a confidence beside her lovely young woman, Kallen. Kallen's hair was blond, but Lelouch couldn't tell if it was sprayed like Rivalz's hair or colored. Either way, she was wearing one of those large flowing dresses. It was medium blue outer layer with buttons on the front and white under layers. It made her look more timid than she acted sometimes. Shirley looked... old. Like as old as Rivalz did. Lelouch felt bad for her.

Milly interrupted everyone. "All right, I have a few requirements for all of you. There was part of a reason why you ended up as partners. You all have relatively the same classes. I've already informed your teachers that you're to sit together during every class and on top of it, you are allowed to show some PDA."

"You're requiring it?" Suzaku asked, frowning slightly.

Milly's grinned widened and she nodded. "That's what will make everyone love the costumes more. Besides you have to make it look like you're a couple for the outfits anyway or else it wouldn't make any sense. Unfortunately, even if your group is chosen as the winner, only one of you could be titled a lord or lady." They all nodded, listening intently. "Now obviously, you are not allowed to grope each other nor are you allowed anywhere near other students for kisses, touches, gropings or anything. Most of the PDA rules still apply, but hand holding and arms around each other are okay. Even a few pecks on the cheek or lips is appropriate. But keep it to a minimum. I'll get my behind chewed off by my grandfather if you guys are inappropriate."

"Obviously most of us aren't going to be," Lelouch retorted, rolling his eyes at Milly. "Kallen and you are the only ones in a relationship together."

Milly grinned at this, but said, "Yes, but I had to elaborate. You know, just in case something happens that makes any of you randomly start making out."

"That won't happen," Suzaku said, as if to reassure both Milly and himself. Instantly, Lelouch knew what Suzaku was thinking. He glared at Milly, who shrugged and flashed Lelouch an apologetic look.

Milly looked at her watch and clapped her hands together. "Classes are going to start in fifteen minutes. You all better head there." Lelouch noticed the glance between the two. It was obvious what Milly wanted to do for a little while. So he stood up and, with a glance Milly could pick up on, said, "All right, let's head out. None of us want to be late."

Suzaku nodded with Lelouch and got to his feet. Lelouch, after hesitating for a moment, got to his feet. His muscles tried to protest, but he ignored it and managed to walk next to Suzaku. Shirley and Rivalz followed.

"Oh there's one last thing!" Milly said before they left and handed out name tags. "You're required to wear these so people know what you are. We don't need people assuming things."

The four students started out of the room and Milly called a reminder, "Make sure to act like couples!" They all acknowledged what Milly said, but didn't say anything.

Suzaku and Lelouch headed a different way from Shirley and Rivalz. The halls were relatively clear. The two were silent. After a moment, Lelouch cleared his throat and asked, "So... what are we going to do... you know... with Milly's requirements?"

Suzaku shrugged, finding his fingernails intriguing. "It's whatever you think is good enough for Milly. I don't want her attacking us or something."

Lelouch noddded. "Yeah she wouldn't be happy if we didn't do anything, but I know it makes you uncomfortable."

At this, Suzaku chuckled. He quit when he saw Lelouch's look on his face. He hastily explained, "You're different Lelouch. You're my best friend. I'm comfortable around you."

Lelouch looked at Suzaku for a minute, surprised and, to his annoyance, a swell of happiness. He quickly crushed the feeling. "Well, then this won't be too hard," Lelouch said. After a moment, he walked closer to Suzaku. Suzaku decided to wrap his arm around Lelouch's waist and pull him slightly closer. Lelouch closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the closeness and then pulled himself together. He needed to get over this crush.

"I never got a look at the name tags," Suzaku commented. "What do they say?"

"...I have no idea," Lelouch admitted. "I didn't look either." He looked at the nametag Milly gave him. All it said was 'Cutest Clause Couple'. He frowned and told Suzaku. Suzaku also looked confused.

"I wonder what she's trying to get at," Suzaku commented, his brows furrowing together. _He looks so cute when he's thinking, _Lelouch thought, then scolded himself for thinking such thoughts. Why was it suddenly so hard to banish thoughts of Suzaku?

Suddenly, Suzaku let go of Lelouch. It took Lelouch a moment to realize why. There was a girl, talking with some friends. Her name was Nyfian. She had light honey colored hair that curled just right and a beautiful face. She was nearly perfect for a girl and had very bright personality. It would make sense if Suzaku liked her

Lelouch's suspicions were confirmed when Suzaku said, "I'll be right back. I just need to talk to someone." Lelouch nodded, pushing back any feelings he had. At least he tried to. It wasn't completely possible. He still felt that stab of pain, just like when a person breaks your heart. Suzaku obviously didn't (since they weren't together), but it felt like a betrayal.

He told Suzaku, "I'm going to continue to class."

"Are you sure? This will only take a moment-"

Lelouch cut him off and said sharply, "I'm sure." Then he started walking without waiting for a reply. Just as he walked past Nyfian, she broke away from her friends and walked right up to Lelouch.

"Good morning, Lelouch!" she said brightly, giving him an eye-closing smile similar to Nunnally's. He nodded at Nyfian. Then she started giggling. "What are you wearing?"

"Milly made me," he stated.

She giggled again. "That makes sense. I know you wouldn't wear it normally."

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Suzaku's stunned expression. Lelouch let out a sigh. Nyfian didn't seem to notice. She actually seemed nervous now. "... So, are you free tonight?" she asked, fidgetting. "I know just about every girl likes you, but..."

Lelouch looked at her and gave her a smile. "Sorry, unfortunately I'm not free. I already have plans with my sister Nunnally."

Nyfian nodded, smiling. "Well that's okay. I wasn't really talking about you anyway."

Lelouch gave her a strange look. Nyfian continued, "I wanted to see if you could introduce me to Suzaku."

Lelouch sighed. He was going to hate himself for what he was going to say next. Reluctantly, he said, "Well, if you're looking to go on a date with Suzaku just ask him. He already likes you." Mentally he cursed both himself and Nyfian. Why was he setting up the guy he liked with a girl?

Nyfian looked over at Suzaku, grinned widely, and then looked back at Lelouch. "Well if that's the case, then I better go talk to him." With that she walked off to Suzaku, who looked between her and Lelouch until she met up to him.

Lelouch started on towards class, trying to ignore the feelings he was feeling. Within a minute, Suzaku had caught up with him.

Suzaku asked instantly, "Did you set up Nyfian for that?"

Hesitating, Lelouch nodded. "Well you like her. It's obvious."

Suzaku shrugged. "I thought she was pretty, but I didn't really like her like her. It will be fun to give it a chance though."

"What time are you guys meeting?"

"She said at seven."

"Should I wait up late or will you guys be back at a decent time."

"I'll be back by eleven at the latest."

Lelouch nodded. Absently, Suzaku slipped his arm around Lelouch's waist. This time, he felt Lelouch tense. He looked over at Lelouch's face. It was void of any emotions whatsoever. Usually he could at least read him somewhat. He couldn't now. "Is anything wrong, Lelouch?" he asked.

Lelouch shrugged. "Nothing that comes to mind. I'm just not feeling too great."

Lelouch glanced at Suzaku. Now he looked concerned. "Do you need to go back home to rest?"

"No, no, I'll be fine. I was just explaining why I'm tense."

Suzaku nodded. "... What do you think of Nyfian?"

"She's very nice. Everyone likes her," Lelouch said.

"I know. It's why I like her. She's nice, even to me."

"There's been others who were nice," Lelouch commented.

"Yeah, but that was you and Nunnally," Suzaku said with a chuckle. "Obviously, I wouldn't go for you or Nunnally. Nunnally is like a sister and you... well with my homphobia and all..."

"I understand," Lelouch said quickly. He wanted to avoid the conversation. It didn't make him feel any better. "But Shirley and everyone's been pretty nice too.

"Yeah, but I wouldn't go for them either. Nyfian is the first I've really liked since..." He fell silent. Lelouch knew exactly who he was talking about; Euphemia. They'd ended it a while ago, when the law had forbidden it. Euphemia hadn't wanted to and neither had Suzaku, but they both would have been executed for it otherwise. Besides, it wasn't too long before Euphemia was at Area 9 and had an engagement set up. They both had to move on.

"That's understandable," Lelouch said quietly.

"So, what about you? Who do you like?" Instantly, Suzaku could see Lelouch's face close up, guarded. "You don't have to be embarrassed," Suzaku teased.

Lelouch sighed. "I don't talk about it. It won't happen, so I'm forgetting it."

"How do you know it won't work?" Suzaku asked.

"Trust me, it won't," Lelouch mumbled.

Suzaku shrugged. "I didn't think you were a quitter."

"Sometimes, there are wars you can't win, no matter how smart you are," Lelouch said cryptically.

"You win every battle, Lelouch. Even if it's love, I imagine you'll win somehow," Suzaku said with a laugh. "You're just too smart. You probably have tons of seductive ways you could win the person over with. I imagine you could turn a lesbian straight, with how popular you are."

Lelouch rolled his eyes. "You're far too dramatic Suzaku."

"No, I'm serious. I have it! I propose a bet for Lelouch Lamperouge!"

Lelouch gave Suzaku a funny look, and then asked, "What is your bet, Sir Kururugi?"

Suzaku grinned. "I bet you to seduce a poor lesbian and manage to get her on a date with you."

Lelouch shook his head. "Suzaku, I'm not that cold-hearted. I won't do that to a poor girl."

"You wouldn't have had a problem with it a little while ago. What's changed?"

"A lot has changed," Lelouch explained. "When you realize you like someone and they won't have you, it's more painful than you'd think it would be."

"I understand-" Suzaku began, but Lelouch cut him off.

"Being with someone and then having to end it is different. When you just can't be together, it's this longing feeling of... pain and anger. You're angry because no matter what, it won't ever happen and it's so painful because you just want to be with this person."

Suzaku nodded. Just then they arrived at their classroom. So far, they had managed to avoid all girls. Unfortunately, tons of girls were already in the classroom. One saw Suzaku and Lelouch and gasped. "Is that-" she murmured to one of the girls. They were all silent one moment, and then one squealed.

"Oh my god! Lelouch and Suzaku are such a cute couple! I HAVE to take a picture!"

Both Suzaku and Lelouch cringed, for different reasons obviously, and also because of some of the glaring girls at Suzaku and his arm around Lelouch. Lelouch started, "You may want to let go before-"

"Suzaku! Lelouch! Is this for the holiday thing? Are you a Mr. and Mrs. Clause couple just like the rest of the Student Council?" some girl Lelouch vaguely knew. Her name was Cecilia.

At a hesitant nod, some girls squealed more. "We NEED pictures. Can you two kiss?"

"Oh, what about videos?"

"And a site! We could start a site!"

The girls all started to corner the two boys, snapping photos and the like, but thankfully, the teacher called order over everyone. Suzaku and Lelouch could walk over to their seats finally. The teacher just gave the two a long look, especially Lelouch, and began calling rollcall. Class was no enjoyment either. Girls kept passing notes, glancing and giggling at the two boys all period (getting both of them in trouble every time it interrupted class), and they would not leave Suzaku or Lelouch alone after class.

Milly finally shooed them away and grinned. "Wow, everyone seems to think you make a great couple," Milly said and grinned. Lelouch glared at Milly. Then he flinched as he started walking. Milly noticed instantly and watched Lelouch with narrowed eyes. "Is everything okay Lelouch?" she asked suspciously.

Lelouch nodded, glancing at Suzaku. He seemed deep in thought. Lelouch turned and gave Milly a knowing look she understood; shut up. With a shrug, she commented, "All the girls want to make a website of you two now."

Suzaku looked over at Milly, looking slightly alarmed. She jut grinned in response. "I can share the site when it's up. I always know these things when they happen."

"Then why don't you try to stop it?" Lelouch questioned. He looked at Milly suspiciously again.

She shrugged. "Why would I? I won't stop fans. They get pissed when you try to and hunt you down after. There's no way I'm getting trampled."

Lelouch shook his head and glanced at Suzaku again. He looked very uncomfortable. Lelouch nudged him slightly. When Suzaku looked at him, he just grinned. Reluctantly, Suzaku grinned back. "I just can't wait until this day is over," Suzaku sighed.

"Well, with all these girl fans, there's a good chance one of you will win," Milly told them both. She was watching them closely. She wasn't sure how Suzaku was doing. He looked like a deer caught in headlights. She didn't take this as a good sign. The glare Lelouch was giving her confirmed her suspicions. She just grinned in response to his glare. That just pissed him off more.

"We can leave for lunch today, Suzaku," Lelouch told him, trying to comfort the Japanese boy as best as he could. "That way, you won't be gwaked for a little while at least."

"You can't do that," Milly chimed in, grinning at both of them. "You'll need to be able to be there to show off everything you guys have for the festival. You won't let me down, right?" Lelouch supposed it was supposed to sound innocent, but the evil look the blonde girl gave them proved otherwise.

Both boys nodded quickly, looking nervous. Milly grinned. She hadn't actually meant to scare them, but it made Suzaku forget his uncomfortableness. That was what she was going for.

Milly nodded to both boys. "Good, you better understand that."

Before Suzaku or Lelouch could reply, the warning bell rang. Milly waved to both boys and started for her class. Suzaku and Lelouch started for theirs, but luckily it was in a different direction. "We're going to wait to pick up the pace, Lelouch," Suzaku told him and took his hand. Instantly, he was moving faster. Lelouch tried to keep up, but the pain in his body caused him to gasp at the pain and he nearly came to a stop.

Suzaku picked up on it instantly and turned to the Britannian boy. Suzaku let go of his hand. As soon as he did, Lelouch collapsed against his knees and tried to catch his breath. "Lelouch!" Suzaku helped the boy to the ground and looked at the raven-haired young man with concern. "You still aren't feeling good, are you?" Suzaku asked. After a moment's hesitation, Lelouch nodded. "Why didn't you stay home?" Suzaku asked, his voice even, but when Lelouch looked up, he could see Suzaku was pissed.

Lelouch just shook his head, trying to focus on standing up aagain. "We... need to get to class," he said, his breath short. Since when did it hurt so much to breath?

Suzaku shook his head. "No, I'm taking you to the nurse again. She'll give me a pass and you'll be heading back to your room after the visit."

"It's just my muscles, Suzaku," Lelouch argued. "Just give me a second and I'll be fine."

"Lelouch-"

"I won't argue, Suzaku," Lelouch said, glaring at the Japanese boy. Suzaku gazed back at him with a stony gaze.

"You'll do what I see fit. That's what the nurse decided and-"

"If you make me, so help me, I will kill you because if I don't do this at least until today's festival comes to an end, Milly will skin me and force me into the most ridiculous of outfits."

Suzaku started laughing and reluctantly helped Lelouch to his feet. "Fine, but after sixth hour, I want you to go to the nurse."

After a moment, Lelouch relented. "I'm telling you it's just the muscles. I'm sure the pain will fade soon."

"How about I carry you?" Suzaku offered. Lelouch hesitated. While he was afraid of being dropped again, yet he knew Suzaku didn't suggest contact often. So he decided to take him up on the offer, although, Lelouch held onto Suzaku's muscular form quite tightly.

The moment Suzaku started walking, the bell rang. Suzaku cursed under his breath slightly, but continued walking. Lelouch was quiet, but he registered what was going on because when Suzaku picked up the pace, his grip tightened on his taxi man. Within two minutes, Suzaku had them both at the classroom. Suzaku helped Lelouch to his feet slowly. Thankfully, Lelouch's muscles didn't feel as painful. The worst part had to be when they walked into the classroom.

When they walked in, the entire class looked back at them. Milly and Kallen were there and Milly had one of the largest smirks Lelouch had seen in a while. After a moment of silence, the class burst out laughing. The teacher, who had planned to deal with the two intruding students after she finished writing on the board, decided to turn around. When she did and saw Leleouch and Suzaku, she just looked back at Lelouch and Suzaku. You could see by the look on her face that she was trying to hold back her laughter. A few girls also decided to snap some pictures with their cellphones.

The teacher said, "Let's put away the phones and get back to class. Kururugi and Lamperouge, I will speak with you after class. Sit down." Then she turned around. By the shaking of her shoulders, you could tell she was laughing.

Thankfully, for Lelouch and Suzaku, their seats were near the back. A few girls were whispering with each other, glancing between Suzaku and Lelouch. Both boys kept quiet and their heads down. Today was going to be a long day.

#

#

It was exactly how Lelouch envisioned it. Unfortunately, by the end of second hour, there was a trail of girls following them and begging them to do all sorts of... couply things together. Suzaku was so squeamish and jumpy around Lelouch, it pissed him off to the point, he actually snapped at Milly for doing this damn festival. The girl just couldn't keep to herself; she had to help in _everything_. What made things worse was when Milly just smiled and told him everything would be great. That damn witch.

By lunch, every girl at Ashford knew about Suzaku and Lelouch. There were mixed feelings about the two together. Unfortunately for Suzaku, tons of the girls seemed to put him on their hate list. Others, including the lesbians, absolutely loved them together.

They all decided to have the showcase outside. Milly, with a trick up her sleeve, had winter gear for the Student Council's showcase. Suzaku's and Lelouch's outfits made them look adorable (at least according to some of the admirers). Milly was having Gino make the announcements of each case. As every member of the school came to see this showcase, they described each of the cases specifically. When everyone came aorund the Lelouch and Suzaku's part, Milly hopped down from the table her and Kallen were at and up behind the two boys. She whispered loud enough for them to hear, "You need to kiss." Suzaku and Lelouch both turned around and gave her a skeptical look. By the gleam in her eye, Lelouch knew she was serious. She continued. "If you don't, I'll make sure to keep this festival as miserable as possible for both of you."

"Milly-" Lelouch started, but the icy look she gave them made him shut up. Reluctantly, Lelouch peeked at Suzaku, who looked ready to bolt.

"Don't worry, you two," she said cheerfully. Gino finised up the announcement and, when every ounce of attention was on the two, Lelouch turned to Suzaku. It looked like Suzaku was about to turn and run, so Lelouch did the only thing that came to mind; he grabbed onto the front of Suzaku's jacket and pulled him right into a kiss. Lelouch could see his expression right before their lips met. And Lelouch, as much as he hated to sound like a girl, nearly melt into Suzaku, especially when Suzaku decided to kiss him back. His eyes closed and, just when he thought the kiss would continue, then Suzaku pulled away.

Everything else seemed to fade away for Lelouch. He just looked at Suzaku's stunned expression and to the crowd around them. Before Suzaku had the chance to speak one word, Lelouch did the one thing that could get him out of the situation, despite how embarrassing it was. He pretended to faint, right into Suzaku's arms.

**~Author's Note~**

**Thank you for reading this chapter yet again. I ask once again, if any of the characters seem to start going OOC please tell me. Once again, thank you for your support in this story and leave as many reviews as you'd like.  
**

**-XmX  
**


	7. Chapter 7: Winter Spirit Part 3 (filler)

**A/N: Please give me festival Ideas.**

**Thank you _Yummi-cake _for your great festival idea. It inspired quite a chapter idea in my head. It'll be a little later into the story, but it plays a big role. So thank you**

**-XmX**

**Chapter Seven: Winter Spirit Part 3 (Filler)**

Suzaku was horrified. Not only had he had to pretend to be Lelouch's boyfriend all morning, but now Milly wanted him to kiss Lelouch. Even with Milly's threat, he was about to turn tail and run. That's when Lelouch took a hold of his front shirt and kissed him. What the...? Suzaku's horror turned to shock. And revulsion. What was Lelouch doing? Milly's threat was bad, but...

Suddenly, the shock disappeared. Slowly, Suzaku's eyes closed and he leaned into the kiss. There was something he felt in the back of his mind. And all this warmth suddenly. He could feel himself getting flush. He never knew kissing Lelouch- Wait. He was kissing Lelouch. Instantly, Suzaku pulled away. He stared back at Lelouch. Lelouch, who looked flushed but pale at the same time, stared back. Everything else seemed to just fade away. Suzaku wasn't sure what to think...

Suddenly, Lelouch started to fall forward, right at Suzaku. His instincts kicked in and he caught Lelouch right before he fell straight onto the table.

Lelouch was more than embarrassed. At this point, he wished he really had fainted. Unfortunately, that was not the case. So now he had to hear everyone's reaction. Unfortunately, there was tons of laughter, but most of his fan girls scolded the people that laughed. There was a lot of murmuring and, as quickly as the laughter started, it faded. People must have started talking about the incident in gym yesterday.

Suddenly the cold top of the table was pressed up against Lelouch's back. He managed to stay limp. "Is he okay?" Lelouch heard Shirley ask.

"I'm sure he's fine," Milly said, sounding annoyed.

"Do you think I should take him to the nurse?" Suzaku asked.

"No, why don't you take him to his room? I'm sure just some extra rest is all he needs," Milly answered.

Lelouch felt Suzaku's muscular arms under his legs and neck. It took a lot of will power not to sigh or cuddle into Suzaku. He was resting against Suzaku's chest anyway. So, he just let Suzaku settle him into his arms. Then Suzaku started walking. Lelouch prepared himself for Suzaku's step down. He stayed the exact same each time Suzaku took a step. After two dropping steps, Lelouch could hear the crunch of snow. The sound was drowned out by the murmuring of other people.

Suddenly, he could hear footsteps close to Suzaku. "Here, let me help you with that, Suzaku," Milly said. Mentally, Lelouch cursed Milly. What else could she possibly want now? She was already basically ruining Lelouch's friendship with Suzaku.

"Thanks Milly," Suzaku said. In a moment, Lelouch felt a gust of warm air. He sighed softly and then realized his mistake. He kept himself still and his eyes closed, but he cursed himself mentally.

"Did Lelouch just sigh?" Milly asked, sounding suspicious.

"Not that I heard," Suzaku answered. Mentally, Lelouch relaxed. And then really relaxed physically. Suzaku was warm, Lelouch realized and started to doze just a little.

Then Milly started to speak.

"So what are you up to tonight, Suzaku?" Milly asked. Lelouch focused into the conversation immediately. Milly was up to something.

"Oh, not much. I was supposed to go on a date tonight."

"A date? With who?" Milly questioned, sounding intrigued.

"Do you know Nyfian?" Suzaku asked.

"Oh. Her?"

"What's wrong with her?" Suzaku must have picked up on the strange note in Milly's voice. What was she getting at?

"Oh, it's nothing," Milly said casually. Or at least pretended to. "... Actually, I can't let a friend go on a date with someone without sharing this information first."

Lelouch could only imagine the look Suzaku was giving Milly. "What is it?"

"Do you know when Nyfian showed up at school?"

"About half a year ago," Suzaku answered.

"Well, for a while, the two of us were dating."

Silence.

Lelouch wanted to see Suzaku's expression. And he really wanted to know if Milly was telling the truth. If she was, when Suzaku talked to her about it, he'd either skip the date, do the date but not go out with her again, or he would offend Nyfian so much she wouldn't go on the date. There was also that chance she'd just laugh it off.

So many thoughts were starting to go through his head, he missed part of the conversation. "But when did this happen?" Suzaku asked.

"About a week after she was in school. You were there. It was two days after that day I fondled her boobs," Milly said. "They felt amazing. Not as large or great as Kallen's, but-"

"Thanks for that information," Suzaku said. He sounded disturbed again. Good job Milly.

"Do you want to take the elevator?" Milly said.

"Sure." Suzaku sounded absent too. Milly must have really bothered him. Lelouch heard the click of a button, then the ding of an elevator, and the doors sliding open. Lelouch felt Suzaku step on the elevator. She and Suzaku were in a state of silence now. It made Lelouch curious and uncomfortable at the same time. He wasn't sure if Milly was being a hundred percent truthful. While he didn't want Suzaku to go on a date with Nyfian, he didn't want to ruin any chance of Suzaku actually falling for this girl. His small crush didn't begin to compare to his friendship with Suzaku.

The elevator came to a stop and the door opened with a _DING._ Suzaku stepped off the elevator. Lelouch could hear Milly walking after them. "Do you mind if I stay around to wait for Lelouch to come to?" Milly asked Suzaku.

"That's more than fine," Suzaku answered. He still sounded distant. "I'm sure Lelouch would appreciate it."

"I could watch him tonight," Milly rambled. "You _do _have a date, so I'll keep an eye out for him. I'll be like a maid. Didn't Sayoko have tonight off anyway?"

Milly continued on talking while Suzaku continued to walk. After a moment, Suzaku said to Milly, "Can you get out Lelouch's room key?"

"Sure!" Lelouch felt Milly search around his pockets until she extracted the key. Lelouch counted the seconds until he heard his room door open. Fifteen seconds. Then Suzaku walked into the home. Lelouch could hear Milly walk in after them before the door slid closed. He knew Suzaku would walk him straight to his room. Lelouch finally decided just to let himself enjoy being held in Suzaku's arm. He let his body fully relax finally. He even let himself take in a full whiff of Suzaku. He smelt spicy with a very light tinge of some sort of fruity scent.

After this, Lelouch had to fully reign in any feelings of Suzaku.

But for now, Lelouch let himself enjoy the scent of Suzaku, the warmth that radiated from beneath Suzaku's shirt, and the ripple of his muscles with every step Suzaku took. For this one instance, Lelouch let himself fully embrace everything; his feelings for the Japanese homophobic boy, the pain Lelouch felt every day he saw Suzaku, and just the feeling of Suzaku.

"Milly, can you get the door?" Suzaku asked, shattering Lelouch's faze. In mere seconds, Lelouch would be away from all of this. In those ten steps Suzaku had to take to Lelouch's bed, everything would be back to reality.

_Nine steps..._

He

_Eight..._

realized

_Seven..._

he

_Six..._

wasn't

_Five..._

ready

_Four..._

to

_Three..._

let

_Two..._

go.

_One..._

The moment he felt Suzaku lean forward to place him on the bed, Lelouch did something else so desperate and embarrassing too.

Suzaku leaned forward, ready to place Lelouch on the bed. When he had set Lelouch on his mattress and started to straighten up, he realized Lelouch had a hold of the front of his winter girly outfit. Not only was it a strong grip, but Suzaku saw the look on Lelouch's face and decided to sit down beside him. "Milly, can you get a cool and damp washcloth and a change of clothes for me?"

"Uh... sure!" Milly said from by the door. She slipped out of the room. Suzaku studied Lelouch's figure for a moment. Lelouch's grip on Suzaku's clothes didn't seem as desperate, but just as strong. The way his body was tensed and the way his face was composed made Suzaku think Lelouch was in pain or having a nightmare. The pain seemed more likely.

Reluctantly, Suzaku reached out a hand to feel Lelouch's forehead. It seemed warm, but that was probably from being outside and then coming inside. To test his theory, he lightly touched other parts of Lelouch's face. He heard a soft sigh emit from Lelouch. Suzaku looked at him, surprised, but Lelouch was unconscious.

The bedroom door opened. Suzaku retracted his hand and looked over at Milly. "Here's the rag, but where can I get you some spare clothes?" Milly asked, sounding surprisingly calm.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot you wouldn't know. My bag is in the living room. My casual clothes should be on the top."

"I'll get that. Do you want me to call grandfather and explain to him what's going on right now?"

"That would be great," Suzaku said, giving the young blond woman a grateful look.

Milly nodded, handed Suzaku the rag, and disappeared from the room again. Suzaku started to tab the cool rag over Lelouch's face. He seemed extremely flushed. "Don't worry, Lelouch," Suzaku whispered. "I'll make sure you get better."

Suzaku heard Milly come back into the room. He didn't bother to stop wetting down Lelouch's face. Milly cleared her throat and said, "I talked to grandfather. He wants you to head back to class and I to watch Lelouch. He thought it would be better, with you being an Eleven and all. His words, mind you..."

"...All right..." Suzaku decided not to say anything about the Eleven comment. "My school uniform-"

"Was in the gym bag next to your suitcase," Milly finished. Suzaku looked back at her, eyebrows raised. Milly explained, "The outfit was poking out of the bag."

"Okay. I'll go get ready. Will you watch him?"

"Of course," Milly chirped, grinning at Suzaku. "I'm sure he'll be awake soon enough."

"When he does wake up, take him to the nurse," Suzaku added. "There must be something really wrong if he's passing out like that." Then Suzaku got up.

Lelouch decided to quit being a girl. He listened while Milly and Suzaku talked for a few extra moments. Then Suzaku left the room. He listened while Milly pulled the chair closer to his bed. Then he felt the poke on his nose. "Dumb ass, quit pretending to sleep."

For a moment, Lelouch considered continuing his fake sleep. But another, this time painful, poke to this nose made him think otherwise. He opened his eyes and glared at Milly. "Is this why you came with?" Lelouch asked, propping up against his pillow.

"Of course. That and I needed to convince Suzaku not to go out with Nyfian. She's really not that good of a girl."

Lelouch gave her a skeptical look. Milly sighed and threw her hands up in defeat. "Okay, she's an amazing girl really. Although her and me being in a relationship was completely true. We were a thing for a few weeks. She said she was mostly just testing the waters and wasn't really into it. I beg to differ though. She decided to get together with me a few times in the last few months. That is, until Kallen came into the picture..." Milly grinned at Lelouch.

"That was way more of your personal life than I ever wanted to know," Lelouch grumbled. Then he looked at Milly and sighed. "Why are you trying to ruin Suzaku's date with a girl he's really liked for quite a while?"

"I don't want him to be with her because of what we had. He's homophobic and I want to protect him." But the grin on Milly's face told Lelouch otherwise.

"What's your real plan?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Milly grinned. She stood up. "Would you like me to get Suzaku n-"

"No!" What he had done flashed through his mind. He winced and said, "He'll want to take me to the nurse. And you know that I wasn't unconscious."

"That's true... Fine, I won't tell him. I'll go to the nurse and ask her to cover for us too."

Lelouch grinned at Milly. "You are one good liar."

"Don't you know it's my future job as a con-woman? I need the practice now." Milly grinned at Lelouch and stood up. "Well, I'll go escort Suzaku out and then come back. You owe me."

"Of course," Lelouch grumbled, sitting up in bed.

Milly grinned devilishly and, with a twiddle of her fingers, disappeared out of the room to find Suzaku.

Suzaku was just finishing straighten out his tie when Milly appeared in the hallway. She grinned at Suzaku. "I figured you wouldn't want to be in the costume any longer. I figured no one would. But I'm betting either you or Lelouch will win."

"Why do you say that?" Suzaku asked, turning around.

"Didn't you see the way people were reacting to you guys? You'll be the next wanted couple!"

Suzaku flinched slightly, and said, "I don't think that would ever happen. Lelouch and I are like brothers."

"I know," Milly said with a smile. "But I have to make sure you guys don't either. A friend of mine_ really_ likes you."

Suzaku gave her a skeptical look and asked, "Who?"

"I can't tell you. But it isn't Kallen, obviously, or Shirley or Rivalz. One of my other friends."

"And it isn't Lelouch," Suzaku murmured, his brow furrowing. Milly didn't say anything, but she shook her head a little. Those two were both helpless. The bell rang, signaling to the start of the next hour. Suzaku grabbed his school bag and smiled at Milly. "Send me a text when Lelouch is awake?" Suzaku asked her. He threw his bag over his shoulder.

"Of course, and I'll text when I meet with the nurse," Milly said with a smile back at Suzaku. Suzaku nodded, said his thanks, and left. After a few moments, Milly walked back to Lelouch's room.

Lelouch was just getting out of the uncomfortable costume Milly had put him in. He just finished pulling up his pants and was working on buttoning them up when Milly came back in. He turned around at the sound of the opening door and looked at Milly. "Is Suzaku gone yet?"

"He just left." Lelouch could see Milly observing his form. She frowned. "What happened to your stomach?" Milly asked.

Lelouch glanced down at the bruise. He shrugged; he hadn't really noticed it. But now that Milly mentioned it, he could feel the pulses of pain in his stomach. He had figured it was from the muscle pains because of the run yesterday. He explained to Milly what happened in the gym locker room.

She giggled and added, "I can't see why Suzaku wouldn't like you. You may be lean and not extremely muscular, but what little toning you have is damn sexy."

Lelouch gave Milly a skeptical look. "So if you're into women, is it just the ladies or men too?"

"A little of both. Mostly women. They're far more interesting than men," Milly said with a devilishly grin. Lelouch rolled his eyes. Milly asked him, "What about you? Which team are you for?"

Lelouch was silent, pulling a shirt over his head. He had never really considered what team he was for. It was more like just Suzaku. He didn't really find other guys cute or anything and girls just didn't seem to catch his attention. It was _just_ Suzaku.

Just as Lelouch finished adjusting a few buttons on his shirt, he said, "I haven't ever really thought about it."

Milly nodded, grinning. "So you play team Suzaku."

"I guess..." Lelouch stretched out lightly, flinching at the slight muscle pains. "You don't have to stay if you don't want to."

"It'll be fun! Besides, Nunnally comes home early these days. We could play a round of _Monopoly_!" Milly said excitedly. "I'll go get my board on my way back from talking to the nurse."

Lelouch sighed in defeat. It actually didn't sound too terrible. "Fine, I'll get some snacks made up."

"And you have to make treats for tonight's Student Council Meeting. Because you are coming. We have budgeting and planning to do for the festival days. It'll be a late night. Maybe some pizzas or something..."

"I'll figure it out," Lelouch grumbled, glaring lightly at Milly. "I'm guessing that's the favor I owe you?"

"Yep!" The two walked into the main room of the dorm. "I could use some deserts too."

"Why don't you just come up with a list before you go?" Lelouch grumbled, leaning against the doorway.

"I guess I can," Milly chirped. She pulled on her shoes and grinned at Lelouch. "I'll go talk to the nurse now. Make that Chex mix, puppy chow, and start those sugar cookies of yours for the game snacks?" She was gone before Lelouch had a chance to speak. Cursing Milly, Lelouch decided to make the snacks instead of facing Milly's wrath of revenge.

He gathered up the supplies for the chex mix first. It took the longest to cook of the snacks Milly requested. Thankfully, he could do the sugar cookies last. He pulled out his binder of recipes and went to the 'T' tabbed section. It was only moments before he found the recipe called _Texas Trash_ He started to surf his cabinets for all the ingredients. Unfortunately for Lelouch, he didn't have the pretzels or gold fish. He sent Milly a text, asking her to bring back the two ingredients. He figured he could start measuring out the other ingredients first. He started with the different chex squares first, since there was so many. He pulled out a container of cashews. While the original recipe called for mixed nuts, neither he nor Nunnally were a huge fans of all the types of nuts. So they stuck with cashews.

He had to wait for the other two ingredients so Lelouch started the seasoning sauce. Personally, Lelouch hated making this recipe, despite how delicious it was. There so many supplies needed, so it was extremely expensive. He only made it a few times a year, December 25 and a few other times Milly or someone close asked for it.

Soon enough, the feel of cooking balanced out Lelouch's hectic mind. Milly wouldn't be back for a while still, so Lelouch could just relax and stir and cook. And think. He really needed to think and figure out what he was going to do about Suzaku. No doubt, Lelouch would have to forget his feelings. Suzaku was never going to not be homophobic. So Lelouch would have to banish his feelings. It wouldn't be too hard. It would be just like when he was a kid and he had lost his puppy.

Happy with his decision, Lelouch set aside all the prepared ingredients for the Texas Trash. Until Milly returned, Lelouch would start the puppy chow (otherwise known as _Muddy Buddies_). It wouldn't take long to make. Lelouch started to hum while measuring out some Rice Chex. Once he had nine cups, he started on the next step.

Lelouch heard the door of the dorm open. Milly popped in a moment later. "Oooh, you're making the puppy chow now!" she squealed, setting the 14 oz boxes of gold fish and pretzels on the counter. Lelouch walked past Milly for the two boxes.

"Do you want to help?" Lelouch asked, glancing over at Milly.

"Yes! I'll start the puppy chow. What step are you on?" Milly asked, leaning over Lelouch's recipe binder.

"Step two," Lelouch said absently, pouring the gold fish and pretzels into the rest of the mixture. After mixing together all the ingredients, Lelouch poured part of the seasoning sauce over the mixture evenly. He stirred everything up together slowly, making sure to coat everything as best as possible.

The oven beeped, signaling to Lelouch the over was ready at 250 degrees. He slipped the large metal bowl into the oven, closed the door, and set the timer for one hour. He looked over at the puppy chow. Milly was currently stirring together the peanut butter, chocolate chip cookies, butter, and vanilla. "Why don't you start the sugar cookies?" Milly suggested, not looking at Lelouch. Lelouch shrugged and flipped to that recipe.

That was how Milly and Lelouch spent the rest of the afternoon. Lelouch stirring the Texas Trash, switching cookie trays and nibbling on the puppy chow. Milly ate the puppy chow and her and Lelouch played a game of War with some playing cards (which may or may not have included some betting...).

By the second to last bell, Lelouch had won forty bucks, a free day from the festival, and a three free periods from gym. The Texas Trash and sugar cookies were both done too. Just as Milly and Lelouch finished setting up the food and the Monopoly game board, Nunnally wheeled in. She giggled and moved herself up to the kitchen table. "Are you guys planning a game night?"

"Well, it's more like a game afternoon. There's a Student Council meeting tonight," Milly said, settling into a seat next to Nunnally.

"If you'd like, we can have a late dinner tonight," Lelouch offered, sitting on the other side of Nunnally.

Nunnally brightened and nodded excitedly. "That would be great! Is Suzaku going to be joining us?"

"Not tonight; he has a date with Nyfian," Lelouch said, grinding his teeth together slightly. _ 'After tonight, no more feelings at all,'_ Lelouch thought. He smirked and suggested, "Want to play Monopoly with real money?" he challenged Milly.

She grinned. "I thought you'd never ask. I've been saving up since last year at our last game. Wait..." She grinned even more. "Why don't we do an actual bet at the Council meeting tonight? I'll inform the entire council and then some for people."

Lelouch grinned more. "We could all come back here afterward."

"Does that mean I get to join?" Nunnally asked. "I've been saving any money I've made. "

"Nunnally, since when have you gone so bad?" Milly giggled.

"My brother's taught me all," Nunnally said, grinning.

Lelouch shook his head. "Come on, let's just start this game for now. We'll all do the real bets later."

"Great!" Milly and Nunnally said excitedly.

The three started the game. Within an hour, Lelouch, Nunnally, and Milly all had houses and hotels on the board. Nunnally was in the lead, fifteen bucks more than Lelouch. Milly was grumbling unhappily; never spend all the money right away. But with that many houses and hotels on some of the major landing spots, she was sure to win soon.

This was the scene Suzaku had walked into when he returned; Milly doing a happy dance around the table, singing, "_I win, I win!" _Nunnally giggling her head off, and Lelouch's head to the table, banging a fist against the tabletop.

He paused, looking at the interesting scene in confusion. Lelouch looked up and sighed, saying, "Hey, Suzaku..."

"Were you guys playing a game?" he asked, cocking his head to one side. He let his backpack fall to the floor and walked over to grab a small handful of the _Texas Trash _left over. It was one of his favorite snacks Lelouch made.

Lelouch nodded. "I lost terribly," he sighed. He glanced at the clock on the wall and stood up. "Want to help make some pizza before you go on your date?"

"Are you sure you should be up?" Suzaku asked, concerned. "The last time you passed out wasn't the prettiest."

"The nurse said it was probably from all the standing in the cold. I'll be perfectly fine."

"Why are you making pizza anyways?" Suzaku asked as the two young men walked into the kitchen.

Lelouch sighed and said, "Milly demanded them for the Student Council meeting tonight." He flipped open the page to the pizza recipe and asked Suzaku to get the bread machine out of the lower cupboard.

"There's a meeting tonight?" Suzaku asked. He leaned over to grab the machine. Lelouch glanced over Suzaku's lower form, sighed softly, and turned away.

"Yeah, apparently it's to plan for the festival tomorrow."

"Oh..."

Milly walked into the kitchen and said, "Don't worry about it, Suzaku; go on your date. Just make sure to bring a lot of cash after you return from your date."

"Why?" Suzaku asked, frowning. He sat the machine on the counter top.

"We're playing a game of Monopoly with real cash. Five hundred is the entrance bet. I'm still getting replies from Shirley, Rivalz, Gino, Rolo, Nina, Anya, and a few others. Nunnally's joining us tonight even. You could invite Nyfian even."

"I'll see what she wants to do," Suzaku said absently.

Milly grinned and walked back out to keep Nunnally company. Suzaku walked over next to Lelouch and observed the recipe. Lelouch swallowed reflexively, feeling Suzaku's closeness, and said, "If you'll measure out the flour, I can get the rest of the ingredients measured out." Suzaku nodded and pulled out a jar of self rising flour. Lelouch started on the rest of the supplies.

After a moment of silence, Lelouch asked, "What do you plan on doing for your date tonight?"

Suzaku started talking easily. "Well, before I came back here, Nyfian and I talked about the final details. We decided we'd meet up at five instead and I'd take her somewhere. She wants a surprise."

Lelouch frowned slightly. "You hate planning surprises."

"Yeah, I know. But she loves them." Lelouch glanced over at Suzaku. He was smiling. Lelouch sighed and started throwing the yeast, the salt, and such into the bread machine.

"Well, you should probably start getting ready for your date. Invite her to the gambling game tonight too. Do you need money for it?"

Suzaku frowned. "I'm not sure if I should join you guys or invite Nyfian."

"It's not dangerous here. You'll be fine. I'm guessing you need to borrow money."

Suzaku shrugged. "...Yeah. But it's pretty expensive."

"I have a stash of money that I usually use for gambling. I have enough extra to give you."

"What about Nyfian?"

"...she'll probably have the money," Lelouch said hesitantly.

"Why would you say that?"

"I promised Nyfian I wouldn't say anything. Why don't you ask her about it?" Lelouch suggested. Lelouch could tell Suzaku frowned, but thankfully, the Japanese boy didn't ask any more questions. Lelouch wasn't sure how Suzaku would have reacted, had Lelouch told him he'd seen Nyfian gambling before. She was a pretty loose girl, despite how good she acted.

Suzaku brought over the bowl of flour and said, "I think you're right. I better go get ready now." Lelouch nodded and poured the bowl of flour into the bread machine. He leaned against the counter with a sigh, and then called out, "Milly, what else did you want made for the meeting?"

Milly walked into the room and said, "I wasn't sure what to make for desert. We'll already have the _Texas trash_ and sugar cookies, but the puppy chow is low. Do you think that would be enough, if we made more puppy chow."

"Yeah," Lelouch said, going for the ingredients for the puppy chow. "If I make it now, will you keep those sneaky paws off of it until the meeting?"

"...Yeah..." Milly sounded distracted. Lelouch looked up. She was on her phone, a look of concentration on her face. She must have sensed Lelouch looking at her, for she glanced up and grinned. "I'm getting poll results from today's festival. Then we'll see who's the first Lord or Lady." At Lelouch's curious look, Milly continued, "At the last day of the festival, there will be a dance. And twelve people would have been selected. That's why I decided to change the rules; two people could win today."

"Who's in the lead?" Lelouch asked, measuring out the powdered sugar.

"Well, right now there's the top ten two people. Kallen and I, Miana and Zane, Aric and Jack, Daizy and Selena, Halee and Zack, Luke and Jasmine, Pansy and Drake, Shirley and Rivalz, Taffy and Sal, and last, but not least, Suzaku and you."

Lelouch looked over at Milly, slightly surprised. "What do the votes look like?"

"Don't have all the tallies yet, but the rest of the fifty had been eliminated. It looks like it'll be close. If there's ties, we'll have to have mini competitions in the morning. And yes, I can do that. The teachers planned an extremely flexible schedule for the next twelve days."

Lelouch nodded, finishing up the puppy chow. "Want to go at another card game while I wait for the pizza?"

"Yes," Milly said, eyes widening with excitement. "Texas Holdem, real poker chips, but we don't have to pay up until after the Monopoly game."

"Deal," Lelouch agreed, holding out his hand. Milly and he shook on it. "Get the poker chips out of the cabinet in the living room. I'll go grab the cards we play with." They got everything rounded up, offered Nunnally to join (who decided to be the card dealer since she wanted to save all her money for the Monopoly game tonight), and set up at the kitchen table.

Around four forty-five, Suzaku walked out, dressed up quite nicely. Lelouch, who had been focused intently on the game, looked up and stared, slightly surprised. Suzaku fidgeted nervously under Lelouch's gaze and asked, "What?"

Lelouch blinked and looked back down at his cards. He did notice Milly's grin, but decided to ignore her. "I'm surprised you're dressed up so nicely. Are you planning somewhere fancy?"

"Yeah, that one romantic restaurant downtown. Do you know which one I'm talking about?"

"I do. It's pretty popular."

Suzaku nodded. "I hope it's not too busy tonight."

Milly interrupted. "Well,make sure you guys are back by nine. That's when the Monopoly gambling will be going on."

"We'll try," Suzaku nodded and left.

Lelouch looked back up from his cards and met Milly's eye. He threw down a card, not breaking his gaze away from Milly.

She read exactly what his expression said; Lelouch's silly crush was over.

#

#

Suzaku walked out to the front of the grounds. He could already seen Nyfian standing at the entrance. He had told her to dress casually fancy. Apparently, she had listened well. She wore a cream colored baby doll dress with an empire waist. It had beautiful lacing around the edging of the straight neckline and clear silky sleeves. She had a small cream purse and wore white high heels.

Nyfian must have heard Suzaku walking towards her, for she looked up from her phone and smiled at him. He walked up to her and gave one look over. She smiled and asked, "Where are we going that I needed to dress up?"

Suzaku smiled back at her. She was certainly a fun girl. "You said you wanted a surprise. So I'm giving you one."

Nyfian grinned at him. "You certainly know how to keep a girl interested."

Suzaku offered his arm, which Nyfian took. "I figured we could walk there if you didn't mind."

"I love walking places. Are you going to blindfold me too?" Nyfian smiled at Suzaku, looking up at him through her bangs. She looked so cute to Suzaku that he wanted to kiss her, but he refrained. On the first date, it was always best to wait until the end of the date. So he just opted to complimenting how nice she looked. Nyfian giggled and looked down at the ground. Suzaku grinned.

They walked in silence for a few blocks, enjoying the darkening town. It looked beautiful. Suzaku looked back at Nyfian, who gave him a sweet smile. "So, there's a Monopoly game going on later at Lelouch's house," Suzaku started, looking for a reaction.

"Let me guess; it's an unofficial game and Lelouch and the group are betting for money," Nyfian grinned.

"Yep," Suzaku agreed. "They invited you too."

"Oh, cool! How much is the entrance fee?"

"Five hundred dollars," Suzaku said with a slight grimace.

"Ouch," Nyfian whistled and then grinned. "If we stop by the bank on the way back, I could afford it. But that's going to drain a lot of money."

"...How do you have that much money? I work for the military and hardly bring in enough money to afford extra stuff. Most of my pay goes to my place on base and the food they give us."

Nyfian sighed and shrugged. "It's not something I normally talk about. Lelouch is the only person who actually knows and he only knows because he ran into me one day." Nyfian sighed and admitted, "I do a lot of gambling."

"Oh." This sweet girl Suzaku saw right now didn't seem like a gambler. "How often do you do it?"

Nyfian shrugged. "Pretty often. A few times during the week and all weekend. I'm actually really good at it. Unfortunately, I just lost a ton of my money. Thankfully I only bet a quarter of what I have and I could pay off the debt. But I only have six hundred dollars left in my account. I don't want to lose that much."

"If you're as good as you say you are, then I'm sure you'll be fine." Suzaku gave Nyfian a sweet smile. "Do you want to go?"

"Yes! I haven't been able to get into Milly's gambling group in forever! She has some of the best players around," Nyfian gushed, looking dreamily into the distance. "Did you already say I probably would?"

"Milly wanted me to text as soon as I knew," Suzaku said, already pulling out his phone. He glanced at Nyfian. "As long as you're okay with me texting her."

"That's perfectly fine," Nyfian giggled. Suzaku sent Milly a quick text and put his phone away. Suzaku noted they weren't far from the restaurant now. He stopped walking. Nyfian gave him a strange look but grinned too. "So you ARE going to blindfold me."

Suzaku nodded, handing her the blindfold he'd found in Lelouch's room earlier. Nyfian giggled and put the blindfold on willingly. Gently, Suzaku lead Nyfian by her shoulders to the restaurant. There was someone waiting for them at the entrance. Silently, Suzaku nodded to the man. He gave a sharp nod and whistled into the restaurant. In an instant, the restaurant had gone silent.

Suzaku was so glad he had connections with the boss of this restaurant. He never would have been able to throw everything together so fast.

He lead Nyfian through the entrance down the carpet to the backroom the boss had reserved him for an hour and a half. A waiter bowed to Suzaku and opened the room for him. Suzaku gently removed Nyfian's blindfold. She gasped quietly and faced Suzaku.

"This is beautiful," Nyfian whispered, turning back to the room. It was dimly lit and candles covered the table. Already, there were plates set at the table. The appetizers were probably just about ready. He'd ordered only some bread, cheese, and a salad to start with. They'd be able to order anything else that Nyfian wanted.

Suzaku offered Nyfian his hand and lead her over to her seat. Nyfian sat down gingerly, smoothing out her dress beneath her. Suzaku sat down across from her. Instantly, a waiter was at their table. "What can I get you two this evening?" he asked, pen poised over his notepad.

Nyfian looked over at Suzaku, eyebrows raised. "Whatever you'd like, Nyfian," Suzaku said with a smile. He opened the drink menu and handed it to Nyfian. He turned to the waiter and said, "I'll take some Ramune."

"Which flavor sir?" the waiter asked, still looking at Suzaku.

"Orange will be fine." Nyfian was still looking over the menu, looking thoughtful.

Then she looked up and said, "I'll take the Mountain Dew." She gave Suzaku a nervous smile and handed the waiter the menu also. In return, the waiter also offered Nyfian another menu.

"Madam, if you'll please pick any appetizers. Sir Kururugi had said to allow you to order that immediately. Shortly after, I'll come for your main course order." The man glanced at Suzaku and returned his attention back to Nyfian. After a moment of chewing on her lip thoughtfully, she ordered some French Onion Rings. Suzaku smiled and asked for buffalo shrimp. The waiter nodded and disappeared from the room.

Suzaku offered the basket of bread to Nyfian. She accepted a piece. She spread butter over the bread and asked, "How did you get this set up so quickly?"

"I'm friends with the boss," Suzaku said, also taking a piece of bread. "Did I surprise you well enough?"

"Mmhmm," she said, giggling softly. "I'm very impressed and highly surprised."

"I'm glad." Suzaku smiled at her. The waiter appeared with some more food and disappeared. Nyfian started looking over the main menu.

"So... what's best here?" Nyfian asked, peeking over her menu.

"Would you like to know the Japanese or Britannian meals?"

"Either of them will do. My mother is a fan of the Japanese and made all sorts of Japanese meals."

"Okay, well I have favorites of both. Here..." Suzaku and her started discussing meals. While she talked, Suzaku watched her with a smile. She seemed perfect.

#

#

"You're going to give up?" Milly followed Lelouch back to the kitchen.

"Yes, there's no point in bothering," Lelouch said grumpily, lifting up the two boxes of homemade pizzas. "Are you going to help or no?" he asked her.

She grumbled and grabbed the container of Texas Trash. "You never know. He might change his mind!" Milly said, silently begging he'd rethink his decision.

"Suzaku is not going to want to be with a guy. EVER. So what's the point in trying?" The door slid open for Lelouch and he stepped out. Milly followed right after, cursing Lelouch silently. Why couldn't Lelouch just _try _to believe it was possible Suzaku could fall for him?

"So, we may have to take a trip to Britannia in a few days."

That got Lelouch's attention. He looked over at Milly with a skeptical look. "Why are you planning a trip there?"

"I'll explain it during our meeting. I figured Kallen, Suzaku, you, and myself could all go. It sounds like a nice trip."

"I wouldn't even be able to leave the plane and you know it," Lelouch said. "And neither would Suzaku. Wait..." He glared at Milly. "Quit butting your nose into my business!"

Milly grinned. She always knew how to get into his head. "I had no idea you hated spending any time with Suzaku. I just figured since you two were so close it would be enjoyable to spend some friendly time together."

"What's going on?" Shirley popped up beside Milly, looking between her and Lelouch.

Milly pretended to seem real concerned and hurt. "I think Lelouch and Suzaku have been fighting. I proposed that he and Suzaku have a day to spend together as friends and he got all mad."

Lelouch just glared at Milly. "She's butting into business that isn't hers. And I'm not fighting with Suzaku," he said calmly. Milly knew he wasn't going to lose his cool around Shirley. She figured she could drop it for now. She really started thinking. Maybe it was a good idea to just step back and see what her interfering had done so far. See how Suzaku was doing, give Lelouch a break, all that stuff. That sounded best.

Lelouch and Shirley had started talking. Milly had to admit she felt bad for Shirley. That girl had been pining over Lelouch for years. It was too bad Lelouch had always had his eye on someone else. He and Shirley would have been good together. Oh, well. Milly did think Suzaku and Lelouch would be an even cuter couple.

"So, Milly, how long are we actually going to be there?" Shirley asked, offering Lelouch to take a pizza. He gave one to her.

"Well, we have to finish discussing how much funds are going to be for this festival. I got most of it done, but then I got bored and Kallen had come over so I didn't finish them. There's some other planning to go into so I'll need everyone's help. It'll probably going to about eight or eight forty-five before we finish here. I don't know if you're coming to our gambling game tonight."

Shirley bit her lip. "I don't think it's the greatest idea. If the headmaster knew we were gambling on campus..."

"Grandfather won't say a word when he knows its me. Come on, you have to join us. Pleeaase...?" Milly gave Shirley her best puppy dog look. She knew she'd win Shirley over with that look, despite how jumpy Shirley was about... anything almost.

Shirley gave a long sigh, glanced at Milly's face, and hesitantly nodded. Milly squealed and hugged Shirley. "Do you have access to five hundred bucks tonight?"

"Five hundred?" Shirley asked, eyes widening. "I hardly have that much."

"I can lend you some," Lelouch offered.

Shirley glared at him. "Have you been betting more, Lulu?"

"Of course he has," Milly said with a giggle. Lelouch glared at Milly in return. Shirley proceeded to lecture him all the way to the Student Council Room. Inside, Rivalz, Kallen, and Nina were already there. Milly frowned and placed her hands on her hips. "Where are Anya and Gino?"

Rivalz shrugged, Nina mumbled something about Gino being with Rolo, and Kallen was busy reading some booklet. Milly sighed and pulled out her phone. Gino and Anya were so weird and annoying sometimes. She dialed Gino first.

It took a second call to even get him to answer. When he did, Milly had an idea exactly what he was doing. "Are you seriously doing that right now?" Milly growled.

Gino took a deep breath and said, sounding less breathless, "Is Lelouch there?"

"Of course he is," Milly said. She could already see the look on Lelouch's face. "Get your ass down to the Student Council Room now." Then she hung up.

"What was he doing?" Lelouch asked, looking ready to kill him already.

"He was doing the... S.E.X. Why...?" The look on Lelouch's face told her everything. "Seriously?"

"Yes." Lelouch sounded like he was ready to kill Gino.

"Just wait until after the meeting to beat him," Milly sighed, although she doubted he could do much damage. She dialed Anya's phone next. Thankfully, she answered the call right away and told Milly she was already on the way. Milly thanked her and hung up.

"I guess we can start the meeting right away. Lelouch wait to kill Gino until after the meeting. I need Shirley and Rivalz started on the financial part after we discuss what the rest of the festival days will be. I have several already picked out, but I've run out of ideas and I need help. Here's what I have filled out so far." Milly handed out copies of a written sheet. There was still six spots blank.

After a moment, everyone started discussing new topic ideas. Shirley started inquiring about the other festival ideas Milly already had down, with the dates written. Shirley was most intrigued by the festival that lasted all weekend. Milly tried to sidetrack Shirley from the weekend festival. She wouldn't approve if Milly told her all of the details.

It took about half an hour and a whole pizza later to finish figuring out the festival topics and ideas. They munched their way through all the _Puppy Chow_ and half of the _Texas Trash_ an hour later on the funding. Milly grilled Gino into all the other paper work for the other clubs while they finished up the last details of the clubs.

It was eight-thirty when everyone finished all the funding, including Gino. Milly had to laugh when she saw Lelouch was still glaring at him. "All right, I have just one last announcement!" Milly said, calling to everyone's attention. "The Monopoly game is being held in Lelouch's living room at exactly nine o'clock. I already know all of you are joining us and Nyfian and Suzaku will be too. I have about four other people joining us, including Nunnally. I'll make sure to explain everything when we get to Lelouch's dorm. You're dismissed." Gino dashed from the room in an attempt to get away from Lelouch. Lucky for him, the other students got up right after, so Lelouch couldn't go after him. For now.

#

#

Suzaku helped Nyfian out of her chair, despite her weak protests. It was only seven thirty, so Suzaku's plan to take Nyfian out for ice cream was still... well planned. He paid for half of the bill tonight and told the waiter quietly that the boss knew of the rest of the plan to paying off the bill. The waiter nodded and left. Suzaku escorted Nyfian out of the restaurant. "So are we planning on heading back now?" Nyfian asked. Suzaku glanced at her and saw her let off a shiver.

Suzaku pulled off his jacket and, while putting it over her shoulders, answered, "I have a place I want to take you to for dessert."

Nyfian looked up at him with curious eyes, putting her arms through the jacket. "Where is this place at?"

"Just a block this way," he said, leading the way across the street. He thought about it and decided to slip his hand in with her. She looked up at him with a small smile and gave his hand a small squeeze.

"This date is wonderful!" Nyfian giggled, hesitantly wrapping her other arm around Suzaku's. "I'm surprised most girls don't like going out with you ever!"

Suzaku shrugged. "I'm glad I got the chance to take you out." They arrived at the Ice Cream Shop. It was a small place at the corner. It was brightly lit and had a few tables inside and out. Perfect for finishing a date.

Suzaku held open the door for Nyfian and walked in after her. It was pretty busy. They'd have to wait a few minutes before they got their ice cream. They stood near the back. "So, how did you get into gambling?" Suzaku asked. He'd been curious about it all night since she'd admitted to it.

She looked slightly uncomfortable. "My mom. When I was younger, she had... financial issues. Instead of doing some of the things women do, she started conning and gambling. She trained me. My ability to gamble is pretty advanced. Mother had taught me everything."

Suzaku nodded slowly. "That had to have sucked."

Nyfian shrugged. "She impressed a man with her gambling skills and they started dating. Turns out the guy had a lot of cash. Now their married and my mother has no financial issues anymore. The best part is she actually loves the guy."

"That's pretty awesome."

"Yeah, it is," Nyfian said with a small smile. "I'm hoping to have something similar. Not exactly like their story, but something good."

Suzaku nodded again and smiled. Then realized that it was their time to order. He ordered Mint Avalanche and Nyfian got some Peach. When they got their ice cream and Suzaku had paid, the two looked around for a spot to sit. Nyfian giggled when she realized there was no spots left. "Why don't we just walk to the park down the road?" Nyfian suggested.

"Sounds good," Suzaku agreed, offering his arm. They walked out of the shop back towards Ashford Academy. Nyfian led him over to the side of the street to a fence. Turned out, there was a hole there Suzaku hadn't known about. She led him through. When they emerged from the bushes and brambles, there was the park.

It was dimly lit, with a few lamps around. There was an entire park still, complete with a play set, swing set, and even a large sand box. Nyfian ran for the swing set immediately, calling for Suzaku with a giggle. Suzaku grinned and ran after her. He easily caught up with her. She sat down on one swing and patted the one next to her. Suzaku joined her.

For a little while, they were silent. Nyfian absently pushed herself back and forth on the swing, staring up at the stars. Suzaku watched her for a moment and then commented, "The stars are beautiful this time of night."

Nyfian looked over at Suzaku, finishing off the last of her waffle cone, and smiled. "Yeah, I come here a lot to watch the stars. It helps me think."

"I'm pretty sure they make you more beautiful than you already are," Suzaku commented, also finishing the last of his cone.

For a moment, Nyfian was silent. Then she stood up and got in front of Suzaku. Hands on her hips, she said, "Are you saying I'm not pretty enough?" Suzaku looked up at her, at first surprised. Then he realized the joking look on her face. Suzaku stood up and walked in front of her. She seemed surprised.

He cupped her face in one hand. "I already think you're the most beautiful woman imaginable," he murmured, and then leaned down to kiss her. A small smile flitted her lips and then she was leaning up to kiss him too.

Then their lips met. Suzaku felt...

He felt...

**~Author's Note~**

**...I'm not sure about this chapter. I'll need your opinions. I think its decent, but I could be wrong and it's horrible. Please give me you're opinion. I'm terribly sorry about the long wait for an update. I apologize now and I promise I'll have new chapters every four weeks. Fanfics are part of my school credit. AWESOME! **

**Please review!**

**XmX**


	8. Chapter 8: The Game

**Chapter Eight: The Game**

_Damn it! _Suzaku reluctantly pulled away from Nyfian, who seemed to be glowing with happiness. Suzaku smiled back at her, but inside, he felt strange. He wasn't even sure how to feel. It was good. It should have been the best kiss he ever had. It certainly felt like it should have been. But it just didn't give him the feeling he expected. It wasn't nowhere near what he felt when Lelouch... Suzaku grimaced. What was he thinking?

Nyfian noticed a reaction immediately. Suzaku could see her happiness dim. "What's wrong?"

Suzaku was _good_ in these situations. Rather than telling her he just didn't feel anything, he told her, "I pulled a muscle training earlier this week. It bothers me random lately." Nyfian accepted that with a grin on her face yet again, although she apologized for the sore muscle. Suzaku just brushed it off, feeling slightly guilty. But he would never admit the fact he had kissed Lelouch, nor that it was better than the one he just shared with Nyfian. Not that that was the case anyway... He smiled at Nyfian and said, "Well, should we get going? We don't want to be late for Lelouch's gambling party."

"That's very true. We better head there then." Nyfian smiled at Suzaku again and took his hand before they started walking. Suddenly, Suzaku felt awkward. But he didn't want to make her feel bad. He'd just have to explain...somehow. Without revealing what it was he'd compared her kiss to. Not that it meant much. It was just his feelings of friendship towards Lelouch. And he was probably a better kisser.

Not that Suzaku cared in the least...

"So, how intense do these games really get?" Nyfian asked suddenly, interrupting Suzaku's train of thought.

Suzaku grinned. "The last game I witnessed, Milly threw a chair at Lelouch and then flipped the table because Lelouch was beating her at _Scrabble. _She ended up having to pay him anyway... And that was only over about fifty bucks. If she does start losing this upcoming game, I'll be surprised if everyone lives." Nyfian just stared at Suzaku with wide eyes. "But don't worry. I'm sure it'll be fine this time."

She still didn't look convinced, but noticed a bank close by and told Suzaku to wait while she got the money. Suzaku watched her walk across the street and sighed. How was he going to tell such a sweet girl that he just didn't feel that important physical connection with her?

#

#

Thoroughly pissed, Lelouch walked into his home. Rolo was right in sight. He caught sight of Lelouch and instantly, a look of pure fear was on his face. "Rolo, what the hell were you thinking?!" Lelouch growled, walking over to Rolo.

"Bi-big brother... I..." Rolo seemed lost for words, looking scared out of his mind.

"You're fucking unhealthy enough as it is! Why the hell would you think doing that would be okay?!"

Rolo was basically cowering as far as he could into the chair he was in. "...I'm sorry..."

The sight of a cowering Rolo simmered the anger of Suzaku being on a date with someone else and Gino defiling his little brother. Lelouch just sighed and sat in the chair next to Rolo. "What do you think you're doing, Rolo?"

"I've been dating him for a really long time," Rolo said hesitantly, waiting to see what his big brother would do next.

Lelouch just threw his hands up in defeat. "How long has this been? And why didn't you tell me?"

"It's been going on since about a month after he came to Ashford," Rolo said, fidgeting nervously. "We weren't exactly sure where it was going to lead and by now it's just a habit to hide things. At first, it was because he wasn't sure how his parents would react. And I didn't really know your opinion either. But you don't seem to mind. But it's been over a year now, big brother."

"Have you thought about what the...activities could do to your health?" Lelouch asked, feeling himself flush. He hadn't wanted to have this talk with Rolo still.

"You heard what the doctor said at our last appointment, big brother. I can have a relatively normal... intimate life. Besides, I'm sixteen. Its not like I'm twelve."

Lelouch just sighed. "We're going to start setting boundaries then. If you guys really want to do that, fine, but I don't want it happening a lot. And there will be times when you will be home. If he wants to come over here, okay, but I won't have you being there all the time alone."

"So, I'm barely allowed there?" Rolo asked, looking confused.

"You can be sometimes, but after seven-thirty I want you home. And I want you home at least three times a week for dinner. He can even come over those times. He's been here plenty as it is and Nunnally really enjoys anyone who comes over." Rolo nodded, looking thoughtful. "And whenever he's over, I want you guys to be on your best behavior if Nunnally or I are around."

Rolo nodded. "Thank you for being understanding, big brother."

Lelouch nodded slowly and stood up. The pain in his body was feeling better since after lunch. He was pretty sure by tomorrow, he would be almost normal again. "Is the Monopoly game set up yet?" he asked Rolo, trying to go to a topic less awkward for him.

"The first board game is, but with all the players Milly's bringing in, we'll probably need two boards. I was thinking about six players for each board and when there's three people left from each game, we can move to one board. Start over again with whatever money everyone won so far."

Lelouch nodded. He was sure Milly would bring her game over. "Has she told you everyone who's coming?"

"There's really thirteen people, but Gino had lost quite a bit of money so I lent him some. We'll probably end up playing together. Then there's everyone from the student council and I believe she said Hakan, Lexis, and Ryenne are joining also."

"It's her personal gambling group. I've met them a few times." Lelouch nodded, quickly thinking everything through. "Milly's bringing over the left over snacks from our student council meeting. Did Nunnally and you eat yet?"

"Yes. I threw together some porcupine balls from a recipe in your book and then made a salad. It was a little of both fruit and vegetable. Nunnally seemed to approve."

Lelouch nodded. Before he could say anything else, he heard the front door open up. He looked down the hall to see it was Milly carrying in a bunch of stuff. Lelouch walked down the hall to help her with the _Texas Trash. _Since there was still one pizza left over, he figured that would be more than enough food.

"Did you bring an extra game?" Lelouch asked, already walking towards the kitchen.

"Yep! I knew we'd need it. Did Rolo tell you the plan he thought of?"

"Yeah, he did."

For a few moments, Lelouch and Milly were both silent. Then Milly folded her arms in front of her. "So you're seriously giving up on Suzaku?" she demanded.

"First off, I'm not giving up on anything. It never would have worked out. And secondly, don't say that so loud. People would get the wrong idea."

"You mean the right idea you don't want anyone knowing."

"Yes," Lelouch said through clenched teeth. "Just leave it alone. He and Nyfian are going to be happy. So just leave it at that."

"Why would you give up though? After seven years, I'd think you would have a little more backbone than that."

Lelouch glared at her. "He's homophobic. You don't get over that. You can learn to cope with it, but the chances of ever liking someone of the same gender is basically zero!"

"But it's not completely zero," Milly tried to point out.

Lelouch let out a frustrated sigh. "Are you trying to torture me? Or are you trying to toy with my feelings? Because he will never like me and I'm getting over it whether you want me to or not!'

"Uh... Lelouch? I-"

"Don't you dare open your mouth. And if you ever mention the fact I like-"

"HEY, Suzaku and Nyfian," Milly interrupted loudly, glancing at Lelouch. Lelouch was frozen in place. He didn't dare turn around in case Nyfian and Suzaku could read what was written over his face. He just needed to collect himself...

"So you like someone, Lelouch?" Nyfian asked, sounding curious.

Lelouch cursed under his breath and said, "It doesn't matter. I was just telling Milly about the fact we won't be together. I'm not much for relationships anyway."

He turned around and, not looking at either Nyfian, Suzaku, or Milly, started to leave the kitchen. He grabbed the other Monopoly board. "I'm going to set up the other game board," he said over his shoulder. Lelouch faintly heard someone walking after him. Mentally, Lelouch hoped it wasn't Suzaku, but he knew it was anyway. Suzaku was too good of a friend to just ignore the fact Lelouch was hurt at all. Even if he was the cause of the hurt...

His suspicions were confirmed the moment he heard the words, "Are you really okay?" come out of Suzaku's mouth. Lelouch closed his eyes for a moment, counted to ten, and turned to Suzaku.

"I'm really fine. I knew it from the beginning. Milly's just trying to mess with me." He sat down on the couch in front of the coffee table and opened up the Monopoly game. Suzaku sat down next to him.

"Why didn't you ever tell me you liked someone?" Lelouch glanced up at Suzaku. Suzaku's brows were furrowed together in that cute way when he thought. Lelouch just sighed and looked away.

"Because I knew it wasn't going to work out. I have known that since I knew them."

Suzaku looked at Lelouch for a moment. Then Lelouch felt an arm around his shoulder. He looked up at Suzaku. Suzaku just said, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Lelouch mumbled, not sure what to say.

"What I don't understand is why it wouldn't work out. Any girl would love to have you."

Lelouch just said, "They weren't interested. Its more than fine." Reluctantly, Lelouch shrugged off Suzaku's arm and took out the board.

"I can finish setting this up," Suzaku said, nudging Lelouch out of the way and pulling out the game pieces. Lelouch watched him move everything around.

"How did your date go?" Lelouch asked.

"..." After several moments of silence, Lelouch gave Suzaku a long look.

"Was it bad?"

Suzaku sighed. "It wasn't bad. We connected really well actually. She really likes the Japanese culture, does some sports, and actually enjoyed the Japanese food... its just..."

Lelouch frowned. "What happened?"

"...I kissed her... And there was nothing," he said quietly. Suzaku glanced at Lelouch.

"So you felt nothing?" Lelouch asked nearly as quiet. Suzaku nodded, looking guilty. "I'm sorry."

Unfortunately, inside Lelouch wasn't feeling sincere. He wondered what this could mean. Lelouch leaned back against the couch. Suzaku did the same, looking conflicted. "On top of it, I lied to her. I just couldn't admit I didn't feel anything."

"So that explains why she looks so happy. Obviously, she felt something. What are you going to tell her?" Lelouch asked.

"I have no idea. I just can't tonight." Suzaku was frowning again.

Lelouch noticed then how close he was to Suzaku. They're hands were basically touching now. "So how do you know you didn't feel anything?" Lelouch asked, looking back up at Suzaku.

Suzaku stared at him, his eyes slightly wider. Lelouch noticed a flush starting to creep into his cheeks. "...I just noticed it was different from the other kisses I've shared."

"Oh." Lelouch glanced down at their hands again. Suzaku noticed this time and glanced up between their hands and Lelouch to see his reactions. It connected instantly that Suzaku didn't pull away. In fact, Lelouch swore Suzaku's hand inched just a little closer. Lelouch slowly moved his hand closer. Their fingertips touched. Lelouch noticed the tingling sensation instantly. Just as he looked up for Suzaku's reaction, he heard Nyfian talking as she walked into the room.

Suzaku's hand was at his side in an instant and his face was entirely blank. As soon as Nyfian walked over to him, he was smiling and offered the seat next to him. But Lelouch could see that Suzaku's smile was far too big and his eyes weren't bright in the least. They were clouded, exactly like when he was thinking.

Suzaku was scooting closer to him, but instead, Lelouch stood up. Suzaku and Nyfian both looked at him. "I'm going to check on what Milly's doing," Lelouch said and walked off without a second glance. He actually just leaned against the hall wall before his front door, where he knew Suzaku or Nyfian wouldn't see him and hopefully Milly would just leave him alone.

It seemed like only a minute before people started knocking on his door. He let in everyone, being polite to Milly's gambling group as they passed or else just engaging his friends in the regular conversation he was used to. They all traveled into Lelouch's living room, where Milly and Rolo had set up all the food relatively organized. Lelouch suspected most of it was Rolo.

Lelouch noticed Nyfian seemed to be talking really good with just about everyone. She would really fit in good with the Student Council. Lelouch wondered if the reason she wasn't part of the Student Council had to do with Milly. He already remembered Nyfian mentioning the fact that Milly refused to allow her near Milly's gambling group. He suspected that Milly really didn't want her around.

At nine exactly, Milly called the group to order. "All right, I want all the cash up front first. Anyone who did not bring money must leave immediately." No one made move to the door. Lelouch put his five hundred dollars onto the table first and leaned back into the loveseat. Rivalz, who was next to him, set his down afterward. Everyone else followed suit. Milly collected up all the piles, counting out all the money quickly. "All right, there's six thousand dollars here. Since the games both Lelouch and I have are based off that amount, we'll have to hand out each of you our list for each of the spots you can buy. Obviously, we had to change up the amounts." Milly handed off a pile of papers to Shirley, who took one and passed it along. Milly continued talking, "Since five hundred dollars is what you start with, obviously Lelouch and I had to pile up a little bit of money for when the 'Bank' owes someone. We're fine with that for the game, but at the end of the game, we'd appreciate having that money back. I'm sure whoever goes home with six thousand dollars will be happy enough with that and not the extra."

Lelouch broke in. "Make sure to explain where everyone goes."

Milly grinned. "That's right. I made sure to split everyone up evenly into groups of sixes. When we're down to three people in each group, we'll move to one board with six people. You'll all start out with a thousand dollars each then and the price of everything will double. It's only fair, since everyone will have extra money. And the lot cards are a little more complicated, but I have everything written down on new cards."

Everyone was silently looking at Milly, only a few with confused expressions on their faces. Milly continued plowing through her explanation, "The first group will be myself, Lelouch, Nyfian, Hakan, Ryenne, and Rivalz. The second group will be Suzaku, Shirley, Lexis, Gino and Rolo, Nunnally, and Anya. Split up now and Lelouch and Lexis will lead you into the first game."

Lelouch was looking at Milly now, eyes narrowed. Normally, she liked splitting up to make sure everything was being followed correctly. He had no idea what game she was playing. And she just met Lelouch's gaze evenly, so he wasn't sure he could suspect her. And then he thought that maybe he was just being obsessive. Milly didn't live to interfere with his life and make him miserable.

Wait, yes she did.

Suddenly, he was a lot more suspicious. Of course, she could just be planning on stealing a lot more money from him than he'd already lost to her. He really hoped so. Because he knew Milly. She wouldn't do this without an ulterior motive. But he didn't know what she was planning. After several more moments, Lelouch finally dismissed it. He was just being paranoid.

His group of Monopoly players crowded around the coffee table. Lelouch instantly sat on the ground, since there weren't enough places for everyone to sit at. It was only fair. Reluctantly, Rivalz followed his example. Milly was right on Lelouch's other side. Hakan was right across from Lelouch, eying him coolly. Nyfian thought it would be wise to sit next to Rivalz. That left the spot between her and Hakan for Ryenne. Lelouch handed out the six dice for everyone to roll. Lelouch shook his dice and let it fall to the table first. It rolled a four. Lelouch cursed quietly. The other five dice followed quickly. Hakan ended up with a six. Both Milly and Nyfian had fives Rivalz had a one and Ryenne a two.

Milly was staring at Nyfian; she didn't look mean but she didn't look friendly either. Nyfian seemed slightly scared even. They both picked up their dice, not breaking eye contact. Everyone watched closely.

Rivalz made the first bet with, "Twenty Milly gets the higher number."

That seemed to break the ice. The girls waited while everyone else bet out money. "Thirty on Nyfian," Ryenne said, watching the girls careful.

"Forty on Milly," Hakan bet.

Lelouch stared at the girls' hands for a moment. "Eighty on Nyfian and she gets a five." He glanced over at Hakan. Hakan stared at Lelouch, eyes narrowed. Lelouch looked right back. Looks like he made an enemy this game.

Then Nyfian and Milly dropped their dice. They all waited, breaths held, until the numbers were revealed. Lelouch grinned at Hakan. Nyfian had won, exactly with a five. Hakan just glared at Lelouch, quiet. Milly already was scribbling on the piece of paper of the extra money that would be owed to Lelouch. She wasn't looking at anyone.

"All right, all the actual cash is put aside. We will use Monopoly money for this game since you can't really buy much with hundred dollar bills. So we will give you one hundred bill, two fifty bills, six twenty bills, fifteen ten bills, 18 five bills, and forty one bills," Lelouch explained as he started passing out piles of fake cash. He didn't mind counting up to the five bills. Thankfully, he and Milly had a smart idea to begin with and had piles of ones counted out and clipped together. Which was so much easier than counting out so many one dollar bills at the beginning of the game.

Then the real game began.

#

#

It took at least three hours for three people to be knocked from both games. Currently, it was between Milly and Hakan to finish up the group's game. Rivalz and Ryenne had already been kicked out of the group and Nyfian and Lelouch were both too far ahead to lose. And with how close to midnight it was getting, Milly and Hakan decided to decide who would win with a different game Lelouch knew Milly was good at; _Texas Holdem_. Lelouch really wasn't sure how this went with the Monopoly game and personally, Lelouch was ready for bed. They were on the eleventh of twelve rounds so far for a final decision. They were both tied.

Milly seemed nervous now. Lelouch was the only person who could pinpoint the very, very subtle signs. All she did to give herself away tonight was flexing the bottom of her cards barely at all. If she was doing it during a game to fake someone, Milly would have been doing it more. But she wasn't playing games right now. Lelouch had a feeling she would be losing this round.

Unfortunately, Hakan had amazing cards this time. Milly cursed and glared at Hakan. He just stared back coolly, his arms folded across his chest. "Deal the next round," Hakan said, glancing at Suzaku. Suzaku stared back, before dealing out the four cards. Milly and Hakan took their times taking the cards.

"You know if I win this hand, we have to play one more round," Milly said, finally looking down at her cards. She seemed nervous. Hakan glanced at his hand.

"I'm sure I'll win either way."

Milly glanced at her cards one last time and sighed. "Okay, fine I fold." She stood up, looked at Hakan, snatched up the small bowl of Texas Trash that was left, and dumped it on him. She walked right out of the room, leaving Hakan stunned and Lelouch frustrated.

"Milly, get this cleaned up!" Lelouch yelled, standing up. The closing of his front door was his answer. Lelouch growled in anger. "Clean this up Hakan. The rest of you, I'll see Hakan, Nyfian, Suzaku, Nunnally, and Lexis here tomorrow after class. The rest of you can join if you want to watch."

They all cleared out, some grumbling about losing their money and others just talking in general. Suzaku came up to Lelouch and said, "I'm going to walk Nyfian to her dorm. I'll be back soon."

"Okay. I would tell her now," he said quietly, glancing at Suzaku for his reaction. Suzaku nodded, looking scared and sad too even.

"I know," he said softly, glancing at Nyfian who was talking excitedly between Rivalz and Shirley. He walked over to them next, trying to seem like everything was okay.

Hakan came over to Lelouch. "Where's your vacuum?" he asked, sounding annoyed.

"Its in the closest in the kitchen," Lelouch said absently. He talked with everyone for a few moments as they walked to the door. Then they said their goodbyes. Lelouch turned back to the living room, knowing he had to clean it up, but he didn't feel like it. After much mental debate, he decided just putting the pizza away would be okay. He could clean up the games in the morning.

Rolo and Nunnally had the pizza picked up when Lelouch entered the living room. He smiled and took the pizza from Nunnally. "I can put this away, Nunnally," he said. "You should get to bed."

Nunnally frowned slightly. "And leave all this mess for you to pick up? That's mean to do, big brother," she scolded. "I can help before I go to sleep."

"We both can," Rolo added. Nunnally beamed at Rolo. He smiled back.

"I'm going to put the game away in the morning. How about you and Nunnally get ready for bed? Brush your teeth and then I'll be there to say good night to both of you," Lelouch suggested.

Reluctantly, the sibling agreed and left the room. Lelouch walked into the kitchen. Hakan was just closing the closet door. "Thank you for cleaning that up," Lelouch said, opening the cabinet drawer filled with freezer and sandwich bags.

"Yeah," Hakan muttered. Lelouch didn't even bother rolling his eyes. He walked over to the fridge and set the pieces of pizza on a cleared shelf. Just as he closed the door, he heard movement. He tensed instantly. He just knew it was Hakan. And he was far too close for comfort.

"What do you want?" Lelouch asked, teeth clenched.

"I want information. Turn around."

Lelouch hesitated, contemplating what could happen. The worst he would do was rough Lelouch up a bit; he didn't seem like a killer. On top of it, Suzaku would be back any time. Lelouch could handle himself. He would be fine. So he took a deep breath and turned around.

He least expected Hakan to jump him. Or for Hakan to kiss him.

As soon as Hakan's lips touched his, Lelouch felt out of control. As if someone was taking control of his emotions and movement because he would never willingly kiss Hakan back. But he did and he couldn't fight it either. Or what flew out of his mouth next. "I'm the ex-prince of Britannia."

Lelouch really tried to fight away, but he seemed to only be able to kiss the boy again. Hakan kept kissing him for about ten more seconds before he pulled away. "Tell me your darkest secrets," he said.

It was like he had verbal diarrhea; he just started letting everything out. He wasn't even completely sure what it was he was saying until he realized he'd reached one of his two darkest secrets. He had already spilled about his heritage, but now he mentioned Suzaku.

He was silent after his admittance. He stared at the smirking face of Hakan. Then his eyes narrowed and his hands clenched into fists. "What did you do to me?" he asked quietly.

"You won't ever know," Hakan said. Lelouch stared at him with narrowed eyes for a moment. Then he lunged. He caught Hakan so off guard that he actually managed to get him to the floor and land a few hits. Unfortunately, Nunnally had probably heard the fridge when Hakan accidentally kicked it. She must have sent Rolo out, for he was there just seconds after Lelouch attempted to wail on Hakan.

"Big brother! What are you doing?" Rolo asked loudly, attempting to pull Lelouch off him. Lelouch tried shoved his brother away with one hand while his other was on Hakan's throat, but Hakan tried to buck Lelouch off him. Lelouch smacked him hard across the face in his attempt to regain balance. Thankfully, Hakan's legs knocked Rolo to the ground temporarily, leaving Lelouch free to actually beat up Hakan.

He could faintly hear his front door open above all the ruckus he was causing. Rolo nearly had his arm when Lelouch swung up to punch Hakan in the face. Lelouch managed to knock his little brother away for a moment, to land a nice smack on Hakan's eye and nose.

Then he could feel strong hands on him. "Lelouch, what the hell are you doing?!" Suzaku demanded, sounding angry.

"I'm going to beat the guy to a bloody pulp! Let go of me!" Lelouch snapped back, trying to struggle against Suzaku's strong grasp.

"Hakan, get the hell out of here," Suzaku said coolly, looking down at the man. Hakan sat up, wiping at his nose that was bleeding profusely.

"Not a problem for me, lover boy," Lelouch heard him mutter. Lelouch lunged, managing to knock himself out of Suzaku's grasp for a second. Hakan managed to move just out of reach, giving Suzaku enough time to grab Lelouch again.

"Just go," Suzaku said calmly. Hakan didn't say another word, just disappeared from the room. After a moment, Lelouch let himself relax. Suzaku kept hold of him. Then the throbbing pain in his knuckles reached his brain. But he let himself relish in the pain until Suzaku would let him go. It seemed to take much longer than he would expect for Suzaku to let him go. When he did, he immediately checked his hand. Yep, his knuckles were swollen.

Suzaku noticed instantly and made a frustrated noise Lelouch had always found cute, even before the crush. He remembered teasing the Japanese boy... Lelouch shook his head, realizing Suzaku was lecturing him. "I mean, I've never even seen you hurt anyone before. How did you do that?"

"...he just pissed me off," Lelouch muttered, walking over to the sink.

"I've seen you get pissed off before. You never tried killing them before. The closest I've ever seen was about Nunnally and you didn't get physical. What did he say to piss you off so bad?"

Lelouch let out a hiss of breath as he put his knuckle under cold water. "Just some things. Does it really matter?" Lelouch turned off the sink and faced both Suzaku... and Rolo.

Thankfully, the young boy didn't seem harmed. "Are you okay, Rolo? I didn't mean to hurt you at all..."

Rolo nodded, smiling at his older brother. "I was just more concerned about you being hurt. I was absolutely fine."

"That's good, but I'm still sorry..." Thankfully, Suzaku seemed to have given Lelouch a little pity. Lelouch spotted the ice pack in his hand. Suzaku handed it to Lelouch.

"I figured you'd hurt pretty bad. You didn't really seem to care how you hit and the closed fist like I saw you connect to his face had to hurt."

Lelouch nodded, giving Suzaku a small smile. He grabbed a rag from the cabinet drawer and placed the ice pack on his hand. That soothed the pain some. The fact Suzaku took his hand next really helped. Suzaku was only inspecting his hand, but Lelouch couldn't concentrate on what Suzaku was inspecting exactly. He only knew that his heart beat picked up and Lelouch wanted Suzaku to touch him more.

Suddenly, Lelouch snatched back his hand, trying to get his tumbling emotions under control. Suzaku looked slightly surprised. "Did I hurt you, Lelouch?" he asked.

Lelouch started to shake his head, but decided it would be best to agree. He had no other way to explain why he would react like that. "The knuckles are pretty sore. Its only bruised so it doesn't really need to be checked out anyway," Lelouch explained, replacing the ice on his hand. "Its getting late. I better go say good night to Nunnally. Don't need her worrying about what happened either."

He left the kitchen before Suzaku could say another word. He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep up this charade. If Lelouch couldn't get rid of his feelings in the next few days, he would have to completely avoid Suzaku until he could. When he arrived at Nunnally's bedroom, he knocked on the door first to make sure he wasn't invading. Once she gave him permission, he opened her door. She looked at him, extremely concerned. "Big brother, what was going on in the kitchen?"

"It was nothing, Nunnally," he said quietly, trying to give her a convincing smile. Unfortunately, Nunnally could read him like an open book.

"You only have that look when you're really worried about something," she said, looking even more concerned.

This time, he managed a real smile. "You don't need to worry about it. I have it under control. I'll always protect you and Rolo."

"Did someone find out?" she asked softly. Her eyes were wide.

"No, of course not," he lied, smiling again and kissing her forehead. "Please don't worry at all. Everything is fine. Now I want you to go to sleep and rest up well. Sayoko will be here to help you get ready."

"...Okay brother," she said, finally smiling. She laid down in bed and told her brother a quiet good night. He smiled at her one last time and then left her room, feeling more guilty than ever. He _had_ to find Milly as soon as possible to get her to shut him up. Milly was the only one with those kind of connections now. Lelouch's teeth clenched together. He hated being this powerless, relying on someone else to take care of his problems...

Lelouch went to check on Rolo. He had to do anything, but think at this moment. He knew what happened if he went down this path, feeling completely powerless. It would make for a disastrous end and he couldn't do that right now.

Unfortunately, Rolo was already nearly ready for bed by the time Lelouch made it to his room. He said his good nights to Rolo too and left. Then there was nothing to do. He could hear the shower running, so Lelouch assumed it was Suzaku. So he left where he knew he could be in solitude for a while; the roof. He always went there when anger and frustration threatened to take control. It helped him cool off and relax. It was his best sanctuary.

The night air was freezing. Lelouch didn't think about the winter factor when he came up here, but he didn't feel like going back down for a sweater or jacket. He just wiped off the bench he had put up there and sat down. He had no idea what Hakan was going to do with the information. There was so many things he could do, with his crush and more importantly, his and Nunnally's heritage. He could black mail or just tell the stupid government. If Britannia learned about the information, Nunnally and him were surely dead. And he had no idea what might happen to Rolo, since Rolo did know the secret. Or at least what was left of them. His mother was gone and his father... He couldn't even think about what happened with him.

What was worse, he had no idea why he slipped up like that. He had never, in all his years, admit where he came from. Lelouch would never let it slip ever. What had changed? Or worse, what had Hakan done to him? How could he have made Lelouch spill his secrets though? He never admitted any of that almost anyone. Milly was the only one to know those few secrets and not even all of them. Especially not his faze of shoplifting... He ran a hand over his face, sighing deeply and wishing he could take back what he said.

He had no idea how long he was up there for. He didn't even realize he was getting chilly. What brought him out of his state was Suzaku's voice. "What are you doing up here?"

Lelouch looked up at Suzaku, not sure what to say. By the look on Suzaku's face, the Japanese boy was reading him better than Lelouch expected. "Just trying to think," Lelouch muttered, looking away back tot he ground.

"You're going to freeze," Suzaku stated, coming over to Lelouch. "You should go inside."

"I'm fine," Lelouch said, still not looking up at him.

"You're not. You're shaking." Suzaku started to take off his jacket.

"Suzaku, I'm seriously fine! You don't need to concern yourself with me every instance you think there's something wrong," Lelouch snapped, sounding harsher than he planned. The look on Suzaku's face said clearly how harsh he had been.

Before Lelouch had a chance to open his mouth, Suzaku started speaking, "Fine, if you can take such good care of yourself, go ahead. I'll just go."

He was already walking away. Lelouch just stared after him, not sure what to do. As the door to the roof closed, Lelouch bowed his head again, this time pressing his thumbs against his eyes as the stinging feeling of tears threatened to escape. But it didn't help, and the poor Britannian boy just sat there on the roof top, crying.

#

#

Suzaku sat in the living room that night, angry and concerned at the same time. He had no idea what was wrong with Lelouch, but he didn't want to be talked to that way either. So he would wait and give Lelouch a piece of his mind when he finally came inside. He had no idea how long he waited.

Eventually, he fell asleep. When he woke up, it was nearly light out and he had a blanket thrown over him. He rubbed at his eyes and stood up. He needed to go check for Lelouch now and make sure he hadn't stayed on the roof all night. He would go to Lelouch's room first. And if he wasn't there, Suzaku would go to the roof.

He knocked on Lelouch's door first, to make sure he wasn't awake. When he didn't get an answer, he opened the door. The room was empty and the bed was made. More concerned, Suzaku closed his door and started towards the front door. As he did, he ran into Sayoko. "Ah good morning, Suzaku," she said cheerfully.

"Have you seen Lelouch?" he asked, glancing towards the front door.

"Yes. Master Lelouch called me in earlier this morning. He said he had something urgent to do this morning. He said he'd be back for lunch." Suzaku nodded, still slightly concerned. "I'm sure everything is perfectly fine."

"Did he happen to tell you where he went?"

"I think he wanted to speak with Mistress Milly."

"Okay, thank you, Sayoko," Suzaku said. Since he got a shower last night, Suzaku just threw on his school uniform, attempted to tame his hair a little, and then grabbed his school bag. He said a quick good morning to Nunnally and Rolo before he was gone. He wanted to make sure Lelouch was all right. He was his best friend after all. But why would he just go to Milly? Couldn't Lelouch just talk to him?

Figuring he could question Lelouch all he wanted later, Suzaku decided to try Milly's room first. If they weren't there, he'd try the Student Council room. Otherwise, he would have to wait until later in the day. Which he did not want to do; he had to know Lelouch was okay now. As a friend, he had been absent enough and he wasn't going to be that way anymore.

Ironically, as soon as Suzaku reached the hall to Milly's room, he could hear Milly and Lelouch talking. "Lelouch, did you seriously have to bother me this early in the morning? I mean, really, its only six-thirty. School doesn't start until eight," Milly grumbled. They didn't seem to be walking.

"You already took long enough coming out here," Lelouch said, sounding frustrated.

"What is there that's seriously so important this early?"

"Hakan knows."

"What does he know? You have to be more specific," Milly sighed.

"Everything. My shoplifting faze, the war, even that I like... well you know... But more importantly, he knows about Britannia. About Nunnally and I."

Now everything was silent. Suzaku was dying to at least look around the corner, but he couldn't let them know he was there. Of course, Lelouch might actually talk... He would wait just a little longer and then...

"How did he figure out?"

Lelouch sighed now, sounding angry and frustrated. "I have no idea! He just... I just lost absolute control of my emotions. I don't even know how it happened. He cornered me and then... I can't even think about what he did without wanting to punch something! Stupid fucking bastard..."

"Well what did he do?" Milly asked.

"He fucking kissed me! I have no idea why he would, but in those few seconds his disgusting mouth was on mine, I lost complete self control. He basically ordered me to tell him all my secrets and I spilled every single fucking thing!"

Suzaku didn't stick around to hear the rest of what they were talking about. He just turned tail and ran. Not because he was disgusted in his friend or ashamed, but because... He was suddenly pissed. He was going to make sure Hakan was taken care of. No one upset his friend like this.

#

#

Lelouch continued pacing in front of Milly, taking in heaving breaths and trying to fight off the urge to punch the wall. Again. "What am I going to do about Nunnally? If Hakan tells the Government-"

"He won't tell the government. I'll take care of it," Milly said. When Lelouch didn't quit pacing, she stepped in front of him and took hold of his shoulders. "I promise this won't be a problem."

After a second, Lelouch nodded. His anger seemed to disappear and now he just looked defeated. "I hate feeling so helpless," Lelouch groaned, wanting to curl up into a little ball against the wall.

"Its going to be fine," Milly said. Then suddenly, she smiled. "Besides, we have a fun trip we're going on tonight. Grandfather approved our trip for today's festival. Shirley will be making the announcement during breakfast."

"So your going to force me to go to Britannia with you and I'm going to be stuck on the private jet with Suzaku the entire time."

"Actually no, you guys don't need to be stuck on the plane. Grandfather has a special order of face masks. It'll make you look genetically different. It'll be a great bonding time for Suzaku and you."

"That's so stupid. We aren't going to bond any closer than we have been already."

The mischievous grin on her face gave him a bad feeling. "What did you do?"

"Oh, nothing, dear LuLu."

Lelouch glared at Milly. "Stop trying to force Suzaku and I closer! Seriously, its not going to happen."

Milly just looped her arm with Lelouch's. "Come on, let's go find Hakan. You're going to have the afternoon off to get packed. Make sure to let Nunnally and Rolo and Sayoko know too."

Lelouch grumbled under his breath, but this time didn't give Milly any grief. "So what is it you've planned?"

"Oh, just we're going to be landing near a Britannian festival. I figured it would be a good time for Suzaku and you to hang out. There's lots of shops and festival games and crafts. There's so much to do." She hesitated. "And truthfully, I miss those kinds of things. That's why I try to do so much fun stuff for the school. But it's never the same as our homeland."

Lelouch nodded. They were both silent now, thinking of the past. "That weekend we have planned for a three day festival thing, we should do a masked festival. Make it more like that time when you were nine and I was eight," Lelouch grudgingly suggested. He hated thinking about his past, but that had been an extremely happy time for his whole family and Milly's as well.

"That was one of my favorite holidays. It was perfect."

"Let's plan for that. That's this Friday, right?"

"Yep. Two days away. Oh wow, we should probably make sure the Student Council is planning all that out while we're away. I really should just ask grandfather if the Student Council can have Friday off to work on setting up the festival."

Lelouch rolled his eyes. "Let's just get today done with. It's the decorative theme right?"

"Oh, you never pay much attention. I really should reconsider someone else for the Vice President."

"Thanks a ton, Milly," Lelouch grumbled. She just grinned.

They reached the Dining hall. "I'm going to look for Hakan now," Milly said, unlooping her arm from his and bounding off into the sea of students. Lelouch looked over between his usual table and the line for breakfast. After a moment's thought, he decided against breakfast and sat down at the table, fishing out a book on his way over. When he got there, he first noticed Suzaku was there.

"Hey, you're here unusually early," Lelouch commented as he sat down.

"I had some errands to run this morning," Suzaku said.

Lelouch frowned. "What could you have possibly needed to do? You live with us right now."

"Uh, I had an early call from base this morning."

"You were still asleep when I woke up this morning. I highly doubt you could have made it there and back in the amount of time I was gone."

"Okay, I had a few things I needed to run this morning for Milly. She asked me to last night."

Lelouch glanced up at Suzaku, suspicious. "Whatever you say, Suzaku."

"What? Do you not believe me?"

"I didn't say that," Lelouch said, smirking slightly. "What did Milly have you run?"

"Some papers to different club members," Suzaku answered immediately.

"Mhmmhh, so what kind of papers?"

"Confidentiality papers." Suzaku and Lelouch stared at each other for a moment. Then they started laughing.

"You are a really bad liar," Lelouch said, grinning.

"How is your hand anyway?" Suzaku asked, trying to distract Lelouch. Lelouch just shook his head.

"Its fine. Doesn't really hurt this morning."

"How about your body?"

"Really great. I can hardly tell it happened now." Lelouch started looking into his book. After a moment, he asked, "So what were you really doing?"

Suzaku shook his head. "Nothing of any importance."

Thankfully, Milly came over to intrude then. "Hey, what happened to Hakan? He looks like he's been beaten up twice!"

"Lelouch did a number to him last night," Suzaku said, frowning. "Didn't actually ever figure out why."

"I know that happened, but it looks like he just got his ass kicked a few minutes ago. He hardly talked to me."

"Oh," Suzaku said. His reaction caught Lelouch's attention. Instantly, his eyes did a sweep over of Suzaku. That's when he noticed the slight bruises that had started forming on Suzaku's face and the fact Suzaku was trying to hide his hands.

"What did you do?" Lelouch asked, eyes narrowed at Suzaku.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Suzaku said, avoiding Lelouch's eye now.

"You are such a liar! Why the hell would you beat up Hakan?"

Now Milly intruded. "You beat up Hakan? Why?"

"I didn't beat anyone up!" Suzaku denied.

"I can see the bruise clearly here," Lelouch said, poking Suzaku roughly on his left cheek, "And here," poking his right eye a little more gently.

"What the hell, Lelouch? You don't just poke people in their eyes," Suzaku whined, glaring lightly at the raven haired boy.

"I do when its you and you're lying to me," Lelouch said, grinning.

"Well, he deserved it," Suzaku grumbled, glaring at the table.

"What did he do to you?" Milly asked, looking intrigued. Lelouch glanced between Milly and Suzaku. He had a growing suspicion Milly had an idea what had happened, just by the look on her face. And the way Suzaku stared back at her said she knew and she better keep quiet.

"Its a little feud between us that he knows now to keep out of," Suzaku said, going back to his breakfast.

"What kind of feud?" Lelouch asked, sounding just as suspicious now.

"Nothing that's of any importance. We're dropping this now."

As if on cue, the overhead speakers beeped and Shirley's chirpy voice filled the dining hall. Since Lelouch was so used to these announcements, he didn't pay attention to what was said. So he had no idea why Milly suddenly squealed and hugged him. "What the hell are you doing?" Lelouch asked, trying to push Milly away.

"Weren't you paying attention at all?" Milly asked. "You won the Christmas Spirit festival!"

"You're going to Britannia tonight too?" Suzaku said, looking curious and concerned.

Lelouch glared at Milly. "Yeah, it was her idea. You're coming with," he added.

Suzaku paled slightly. "Why do I have to come with?" Suzaku asked Milly.

Milly shrugged. "Cause I wanted you to see the festival Lelouch and I used to go to every year. And besides, Lelouch needs company."

"I wouldn't even be able to step off the plane!"

"Oh, don't worry, Grandfather has it all worked out. I have a great plan. I want you and Lelouch packing after lunch. We have to be ready and at the private airport by two. The plane is further away than I'd like, but that's that. Anyway..."

"Shouldn't you really ask us if we want to go?" Lelouch grumbled, trying to block out all that Milly was saying.

"Nope, cause I'm your president and you have to listen," she said, sticking out her tongue.

"You say that now, what happens when you graduate?" Lelouch said.

"People will still listen to me then, but that's because I'll be a reporter," she said proudly.

"Its not like anyone would watch," Lelouch muttered.

The silence following his sentence frightened him. And he was right to be.

Within a hour, he was stuck in yet another Christmas themed girl outfit. And this one, he couldn't get out of on his own. The threats Milly insured guaranteed no one would try to help him. To make matters worse, the entire school would be in the dining area for part of the morning to start Milly's second festival day. She titled it Tree Décor. Everyone's Club would have an almost unlimited amount of supplies to make an amazing design how they would decorate the entire school. They could make a diagram of a room in any type or shape. The only exception was decorating any room. The winners would be able to design the school as their diagram. The top five follow-ups would be able to design the classrooms and everyone else decorated the pine trees Milly was going to set up around the school to represent the other clubs.

"So you're saying Britannia has the best pine trees. So that's your great excuse to go?" Lelouch asked as he tried pressing down the small diagram tree.

"It's the best. Don't you think so Rivalz?" Milly asked.

"It's fine I guess," he murmured, trying to decide which green to use for the banners. "Should there be mistletoe?"

"Of course! It's the Christmas tradition!" Milly said, grinning. "That and also I can use it as an excuse to kiss Kallen."

"Well this should be the color for them," Rivalz said, handing Milly the color. Her eye lit up.

"Its perfect! Hey Shirley, can you cut these out?"

"I'm already busy with the stupid tables I just had to glue together. Get Suzaku to," she grumbled, glaring at the blond.

"Why are you so cranky today?" Milly pouted.

"You know what, how about you do it? You're just standing there, pouting."

"Ms. Shirley! I am your president. And I order you to quit being so cranky."

"You can't order me around," Shirley said, astounded. Milly just stared at Shirley with a grin.

"So where is Kallen anyway?" Rivalz asked. He offered another green paper, to which Milly observed closely.

"This is perfect for the table clothes... oh, Kallen had some family business to attend today..." Lelouch, being the observant one always, noticed instantly the look in Milly's eyes, despite the fact her facial expression was still aloof.

"So which room are we designing exactly?" Suzaku asked, handing Milly a small table. She beamed at him.

"So glad you asked. Its the dining hall! I want to design this room one way or the other for Day twelve."

Lelouch frowned now. "What's supposed to be happening? You didn't have a number twelve."

"Obviously, its a secret. I'll announce it on day ten. Gives people a few days before it happens."

She wouldn't elaborate anymore after that, despite everyone's pestering. Eventually, Anya and Gino showed up as well to help. Lelouch glared at Gino as soon as he approached. At first, the blond Britannian almost started backing up, but Milly pulled him in with a warning. Obviously, he didn't want to end up like Lelouch.

After nearly another hour, the Clubs were done designing the diagrams. They were all set up at the front of the room for everyone to observe. Milly stood up on her chair and made a similar announcement to the one she did yesterday. Everyone would have all day to decide and vote and Rivalz and Shirley would be counting up the votes tonight to announce in the morning. Then everyone was sent to class.

Thankfully, Lelouch had the chance to tell Sayoko about his trip to Britannia before class and he managed to talk to Nunnally and Rolo also, even though they knew. Then he was going to class, at first by himself, but then Suzaku appeared at his side. Lelouch stared at him for a moment before asking, "Why did you beat up Hakan?"

"What makes you think it was Hakan?" Suzaku tried to pretend, but Lelouch wasn't fooled.

"Really, why did you?"

"Why were you on the roof?"

"What does it matter? I came back down after a bit."

"You're my friend. I want to know," Suzaku said stubbornly.

"Well stop worrying about it. Its not important," Lelouch growled.

"Was it about Nunnally? Or something Hakan said to you last night?"

"Really, mind your own business," Lelouch warned.

"I'm your best friend, but you won't tell me what's wrong."

Lelouch glared at him. "Fine, you want to know? He knows everything. He knows about Nunnally's and my heritage. He knows about my shoplifting faze and the problem I had when we were trying to escape during the war. Everything."

Suzaku's eyes widened. "How did he find out?"

"Why do you think I was beating the shit out of him? I have no idea, but he does... I had to visit Milly this morning to make sure she could keep him quiet," Lelouch said quietly. "Its what was bothering me so badly last night... If he says anything to the government about Nunnally and I, we'll be destroyed. And poor Rolo... He's family to Nunnally and I. Ever since I brought him back from the streets... They'd kill him for knowing. They would even if he didn't..."

"Would he actually tell anyone?" Suzaku asked.

"I...don't know. Milly said she talked to him too... but..." Now Lelouch looked at Suzaku. He didn't seem all too surprised. "You knew already, didn't you?" Lelouch asked suspiciously.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Stop lying! How did you know?" Suzaku looked away from him, uncomfortable. "You followed me this morning, didn't you?"

"I was worried about you! I mean one moment you're up on the rooftop and then when I wake up you're not up there or your room and I'm just lucky I ran into Sayoko or else I would have tracked you down."

"You heard everything I said to Milly didn't you," Lelouch said, sounding pissed. "Instead of going around the corner and seeing what it was that could be wrong, you spied on me."

"That's not-"

"It's exactly what happened," Lelouch cut in. "You couldn't wait to hear my explanation, you had to spy. I can't believe..." Lelouch stopped walking and just stared at Suzaku for a second. "You have no idea what happened to me when you were gone. You left our camp one day to find food and then I heard your scream and you were gone. And now that you're finally here, you're sneaking around like you can't trust me."

"I'm not-"

"That's exactly what it seems like." Suzaku was silent now. Lelouch just stared at him for one more moment before he turned and started walking away.

"Wait, Lelouch-"

"Save it, Suzaku," he said without looking back. Suzaku didn't follow him. Lelouch wasn't even sure he was mad. He just knew he was upset cause Suzaku did know Hakan kissed him. And Lelouch was more shocked that Suzaku wasn't upset about it in the least. In fact, that could have been part of the very reason Suzaku beat him up. But he was upset that Suzaku had to sneak and listen instead of coming over and asking. Lelouch was just grateful he hadn't said anything about who he liked specifically.

The classes were shorter today than usual, to try to make up for the time Milly used up. There was enough time to learn about the lessons, but not enough to actually do schoolwork, so there was most certainly going to be lots more homework. Thankfully, everything was going by much faster than Lelouch expected. By lunch time, he had also gone by all his other afternoon classes to collect up his other homework. He decided to have lunch at his home with Nunnally and Rolo before they had to go back to class and he had to leave.

"So, is Milly actually taking you to the Masked Festival?" Nunnally asked, eyes wide with curiosity.

"I don't really know," Lelouch replied, trying to avoid the topic.

"Oh, come on Big brother," she pouted. "I know when you're trying to make me feel better. Its not going to bother me if you say you are. The festival was the best years of our lives." Lelouch glanced at Rolo, who seemed as intrigued as Nunnally.

"What's this festival?" Rolo asked.

"Its an annual festival that is celebrated all over Britannia. Its a beautiful night festival where everyone is masked and there's lots of stands with games and shops for an entire weekend. It falls exactly on the time long ago when the moon overlapped the sun for three days. They keep hoping it'll happen again, but until it does, the festival is only celebrated at night," Lelouch explained.

Rolo nodded. "I remember the lesson when they taught about some of those things. Its been a while since I thought about it."

"Milly wants to try copying the festival in some ways for her weekend festival next week," Nunnally piped up. "She's been bragging about all her ideas for it." Nunnally and Rolo proceeded to talk about next weekend all through lunch.

When lunch ended, Lelouch said his goodbye to his siblings. He hated leaving them behind, but it was either follow Milly's orders or be tortured more. He already had to try to bribe Milly to take this one off before they got on the airplane.

He packed everything up he needed for two days, just in case Milly decides to stay later than planned. Thankfully, it didn't take too long. He still had about fifteen minutes left until he was going to their meeting spot. He grabbed a spare pair of clothes, dark pants and a casual white button-up shirt, and headed for Milly's room. He hoped she'd agree to helping him out. Otherwise, he had no idea what he was going to do.

When Lelouch arrived at Milly's room, she and Suzaku were both there. He hesitated, not sure how he should react. After a second, he decided just to address Milly for the time being. He walked up to them and asked Milly, "Are you going to help me out of this ridiculous outfit or not?" Lelouch grumbled, looking only at Milly.

"Are you ready for the trip?" she asked, grinning.

"Yes. Just help me out of this."

Milly shook her head. "Have Suzaku do it." Both boys looked at her, Lelouch glaring and Suzaku looking nervous. Milly frowned. "Oh, don't give me that look. That's what you get for fighting right before our trip."

"You can't use us like chess pieces," Lelouch growled. "Just get me out of this dress."

"No," Milly said stubbornly.

Lelouch and Milly stared at each other through narrowed eyes for several moments. After several glances between the two, Suzaku sighed and said, "I'll just do it, Lelouch."

"I'm not doing it," Lelouch said, finally looking at him.

"Then you're going as a girl the entire trip," Milly snapped. "I'm sick and tired of your grumpiness. Get over the fact Suzaku listened in. He didn't hear anything and he's your best friend for god's sake. Just go fucking change. I'll meet you guys outside." With that said, Milly grabbed her bag and walked off.

After a moment, Lelouch sighed. "Fine, let's just get this over with." He turned around and started towards the closest boy's bathroom. Suzaku followed after him. When they entered the bathroom, Lelouch turned around automatically.

While Suzaku struggled to get the dress undone, he finally asked the question he had been curious about for a while now. "Who is it you like?" he asked quietly.

Lelouch tensed instantly. "It's not important."

"Why do you say that? Any person would want to be with you," Suzaku said, managing to undo part of the zipper and starting in on the buttons.

"Its not something I'll share. They'll never like me like that," Lelouch said. Suzaku didn't realize Lelouch was looking at him through the mirror. He had the same cute frustrated expression on his face.

"How can you be sure? She's not a lesbian, is she?"

"I'm not their type. Can we not talk about it?"

After a second, Suzaku asked, "Are you still mad at me?"

"...I wasn't really mad," Lelouch admitted. "I didn't want you knowing who."

"Is it really that bad?" Suzaku asked.

"...Yes."

"All right, I won't ask. I'll forget all about it." Suzaku grinned at Lelouch as the raven-haired boy turned around to looking at him. "Now let me finish unzipping this before you turn around." Once Lelouch was unzipped, Suzaku had left the bathroom, and Lelouch finally got out of that horrid dress. He happily put on his other clothes and met up with Suzaku outside at the school entrance. He figured it would be better than having the Japanese boy wait for him and then walk to Lelouch's room. He was just lucky Suzaku offered to grab his stuff as well.

Milly greeted Lelouch as he walked up to the entrance, cheerful again. It wasn't until they actually got into the car that it really started to register where he was going. He tried to keep calm, but Lelouch was surprised by the amount of fear he felt returning home. It wasn't he was leaving Nunnally and Rolo or that he wasn't going to be able to protect them if anyone came.

He was truly terrified to return to that bloodbath of a land.

Taking a deep breath, Lelouch settled back in the seat and looked out the window. There was no point worrying Milly or bothering Suzaku, so he kept his face blank. When they arrived at the Ashford Private airport, Lelouch got out of the car right away, grabbed his stuff, and started straight for the plane. He placed his baggage up in the upper compartments and took a seat. If he buckled up now, he wouldn't leave. He just needed to get to that point.

Suzaku stepped onto the plane next and got his things put away as well. He sat in the seat next to Lelouch and surprised the Britannian boy by his his hand on Lelouch's. He smiled at his friend and said, "It'll all be okay. Nothing bad is going to happen, I promise."

Lelouch smiled at Suzaku and said, "I've got nothing to worry about." In that instant, he was no longer worried.

Milly got settled in after and set up a game, glancing at Lelouch worriedly, but she didn't see a hint of fear in his expression. She smiled; things were really looking well.

**~A/N~**

**I am SO sorry about such a long wait. It took forever to get this chapter even remotely decent and I had no idea where to end it and finally just had to stop it. I hate the end of this chapter, but I'm really hoping you all enjoy this chapter. I swear to have these chapters out sooner I promise.  
**

**I love all your reviews. I hope the story is still as good.  
**

**XmX**


	9. Chapter 9: Britannia Part One

**Chapter Nine: Britannia Part One**

Suzaku could read Lelouch. The raven-haired boy was real easy to read. At least he was most of the time. So he could tell the longer Lelouch was in the plane, the more nervous he got. This was understandable, in Suzaku's eyes. The stories Lelouch told him were horrifying. Not that all of it was bad, if you had the upper hand in status. Lelouch had told him about the balls and galas and the beautiful landmarks too. But the bad outweighed the good by a long shot.

How was Milly going to cover up his native Japanese look anyway? It would be impossible to cover everything up without something like cosmetic surgery. He glanced at Milly, who also had a thoughtful expression on her face. She was looking out the window, leaning into her hand. Glancing at Lelouch, he saw the Britannian boy just staring into space.

The silence was going to be unbearable real fast. It had already been an hour. Suzaku cleared his throat. Instantly, Lelouch and Milly both looked at him. "... How exactly are we supposed to keep me from being spotted as an Ele- Japanese?" He corrected himself as soon as he saw the dirty looks from both Britannians.

"I have a little experiment that just started coming out in the black market," Milly said dismissively, glancing at the windows again.

"What do you mean experiment?" Suzaku asked, frowning.

"I have access to some top secret high tech stuff. Don't bother asking how," Milly said. "It's nothing to worry about. It's a mask that molds over your facial shape to give you a different, but same appearance. You'll look more Britannian and the mask looks real. It's not really experimental anymore; it's just not accessible by the average person either."

"Then how did you get it?" Lelouch asked. He had a frown on his face also. "You don't have those kinds of connections anymore."

"I've discovered a few on my own lately," Milly said, grinning. "I can't share with you though."

"I could use some of those kinds of connections," Lelouch grumbled, folding his arms over his chest.

"No, you don't," Suzaku said, his frown deepening.

"It would be a lot easier trying to find a cure for Nunnally," Lelouch pointed out.

"I'm sure her regular doctor is looking everywhere he can," Suzaku said. "Besides, would you really trust someone that works in a black market to find a cure for your sister?"

Lelouch was silent. Suzaku knew Lelouch had been trying his hardest to help his sister walk again. So far, the doctor he had right now had helped restore Nunnally's ability to see, but the doctor was very cautious about trying to restore Nunnally's ability to walk. The chances of that actually happening was slim and could be life threatening. It wasn't just Lelouch pushing either. Since being able to see, Nunnally was dying to try walking again. There was already three attempts that failed to restore her ability, but that never seemed to crush her spirit. In fact, it encouraged her to try more.

Milly finally broke the uncomfortable silence. "Either way, you'll both be able to leave the ship, see the beautiful landmarks and then we can go to the Masked Ball. At least the first night. We probably won't stay more than like a day and a half. I'll deal with finding all the trees tomorrow morning."

"Do you know what time we'll be arriving?" Lelouch asked, staring at one of the windows.

"About eight AM," Milly said. She fell silent as well.

Reluctantly, Suzaku had to acknowledge the fact neither Britannians were going to talk much on this trip. So he settled into his seat and started some of his homework. It was better than wasting all the time staring into nothing or sitting in the uncomfortable silence. Suzaku had no idea how to help them either. It was obvious there were painful memories for both of them. Lelouch's distraught was obvious, but what were Milly's demons?

Why had her family been exiled anyway? Suzaku really hadn't thought about it before. He knew perfectly well that her family had been close with Lelouch's, but would that really give the Royal Family enough cause to send them to Area 11? That made absolutely no sense… Then again the Royal Family didn't make much sense in general, so that could be the cause… Suzaku banished the thoughts, reluctantly deciding to ask about it later, and poured his focus into his schoolwork.

#

#

After nearly three hours of flying, Suzaku was woken from his sleep. He sat up and yawned widely. Already, Milly was chatting about where they were landing. They were going to the hotel room first, get settled in, and then heading out into the city . Milly suddenly said, "Suzaku, we have to make sure to put that mask on . It's about the same tone of your skin color now, so it should be no problem blending with the rest of your body."

Suzaku sighed. "Let's just get this over with now."

Milly nodded and pulled over the bag she had with her. She dug through it for a moment and pulled out a thin metal case. "Come here," she said absently, already fiddling with something on the case. Suzaku walked over to her. She motioned him to crouch and opened the lid. "Now, don't move," she told him. "This will feel uncomfortable at first, but you'll get used to it quickly."

He didn't get a chance to see exactly what this mask thing looked like before Milly pressed the cool, sticky material against his face. He wanted to flinch away, but he ignored the urge and let Milly do whatever she was doing. As soon as the sticky feeling disappeared, there was an itch. That itch quickly turned to sharp little pains. Eventually, it all faded away.

"Wow, Suzaku, you really can't tell it's you," Lelouch said, eyes wide.

Milly squealed. "I'm so happy! Sometimes, the face rejects the mask. I'm so glad it worked for you, Suzaku! Here, look!" She pulled out a small mirror out of her bag and handed it to Suzaku. Reluctantly, he took a look in the mirror.

It was amazing what a change a mask like this could do. He hardly recognized himself. He was pale, a lot paler than he was used to, and his facial structure was very similar to Milly's and Lelouch's. It was a miracle he could recognize himself at all. "This plan really will work," Suzaku said, looking back at Milly. "How long does this last for?"

"Hmmm... I'm not completely sure," Milly said, tapping a finger on her chin. "Usually, the subjects only used these within twenty-four hours. The masks are reusable as much as you'd like, so it shouldn't be a problem at all. You'll just take it off whenever we're not outside." Suzaku nodded, touching his face. It didn't feel any different. It just looked different. This was amazing.

"We'll have to test it out," Lelouch said, glancing out the window. "I think we're going to be landing pretty soon." Just as he said that, the pilot paged into the cabin the exact thing. They all settled into their seats and Suzaku packed up his schoolwork.

The landing was smooth and easy. They waited until the pilot came into the cabin before they stood up. Suzaku noticed there was a cab already ready for them as soon as they stepped out. Milly made some plans with the pilot and then she got into the front seat of the cab. She turned to Suzaku and Lelouch and said, "Just remember to introduce yourselves as Sumnor and Leavitt. There's no need for titles." She smiled sweetly at them and gave them a wink.

Lelouch smirked. "You don't need to keep reminding me, Mikko."

Milly giggled and said, "I'll have to check in with the tree company, so I'll have the cab drop you off at the hotel and I'll go straight over there-"

"You shouldn't be alone," Lelouch said instantly.

Milly dismissed his concern. "It's no safer for you than me. Besides, you'd never be able to beat anyone up."

Lelouch glared and opened his mouth. Suzaku broke in before he could say anything, "She's right, Leavitt. I'll go with her."

For a second, Lelouch glanced between the two and said, "Why do I have to be left alone?"

"He's right," Milly sighed. "I guess we'll all go."

"Then we can get ready for the festival," Lelouch said, yawning widely.

"We should take a nap before that," Suzaku commented. "After the tree company," he added as an afterthought when both Milly and Lelouch looked ready to argue.

Milly nodded slowly. "That's not the worst idea ever. We can have lunch afterwards and then get outfits for the festival tonight."

"Then it's the plan," Lelouch said, closing his eyes for a moment.

"You can rest now, if you want," Suzaku offered, noticing the tired look in Lelouch's eyes.

Lelouch shook his head, glancing out the window. "I won't let anything happen," he added softly. Lelouch glanced at him, studying his face.

"I'm just going to rest my eyes for a minute," he said sounding like he was trying to convince himself. Suzaku just nodded and smiled at his raven haired friend. Lelouch still didn't look very comfortable with the idea.

Without a thought, Suzaku offered, "You can lean on my shoulder to rest." Lelouch hesitated for a second. Suzaku noticed the slightly confused look in his eyes, but before Suzaku could dwell on it, Lelouch settled his head on his shoulder. Within minutes, the raven haired Britannian was out. Suzaku glanced at Lelouch, noting he had the calm on his face. This was the only time Suzaku ever saw him calm. Normally, he kept everything about himself concentrated and controlled all day, every day. Suzaku never saw anything different, until the ex-Prince was asleep.

Lately, everything had been off. Lelouch's control was slipping. Suzaku noticed that instantly. He was always flushed whenever Suzaku brought up his crush or if Milly was talking to him about whoever it was Lelouch liked… Who could this person be that unnerved Lelouch so much?

Suzaku noticed Milly was studying them over the shoulder of the seat. "Are you concerned about Leavitt?" she asked, glancing at him.

Suzaku nodded slowly, looking at Lelouch again. "It just seems lately he's been stressed over everything that has to do with whoever he likes."

"It's a real complicated situation. Leavitt has liked this person for a really long time, but he's afraid they won't like him back, especially because they have this thing with liking guys."

"So, she's a lesbian?" he asked, frowning. Milly fidgeted and stayed silent. Suzaku's eyes narrowed. "What is it you're not telling me?"

"I really shouldn't say anything," she said hesitantly.

"What is it?" Suzaku demanded, sitting up straighter.

Before Milly was forced into speaking, the taxi driver pulled up to the curb. Suzaku hadn't realized they were so far into town already. He considered shaking Lelouch away, but decided just to adjust the scrawny young man into his arms and got out of the cab. "Oh, come on Suzaku, how am I supposed to get all this stuff upstairs! It doesn't hurt Lelouch to wake up for a bit," Milly whined, but she kept her voice low.

"I can still carry half the stuff. Just throw it on this arm," Suzaku said, adjusting Lelouch just enough to hold out his arm slightly. Milly shook her head, but started putting his and Lelouch's bag on his arm.

"You spoil Lelouch way too much," she grumbled as she leaned into the taxi to pay the driver. She swung her own bags over her shoulder and started up to the large hotel. It really was _huge_! It could easily be fifteen stories.

"How did you afford this place, Mikko?!" Suzaku asked, amazed.

"I had a friend pull some strings. Grandfather paid what little bit it cost," Milly said, absently. She looked like she was avoiding the question.

"How are you gaining all these strings?" he asked, frowning. "I thought most of those were disconnected when you came to Area 11."

"I… found some new ones," she said hesitantly. She glanced around again, obviously nervous.

"What are you getting involved with?" he asked, frowning.

She turned to him. "We don't need to talk about this, especially in a public area." She glanced around again and shook her head. "If you absolutely insist talking about this, we can do it later when there's not a bunch of prying ears!" She turned back around and started into the hotel. For a moment, Suzaku was frozen to the spot. Milly had never seemed so nervous about talking before. What was with Britannia and turning people so somber and secretive?

Suzaku started up to the hotel. Milly was at the check-in area, talking with a lady. It didn't take long for Milly to acquire two keys for the rooms. She handed one to Suzaku and started toward the elevators. She deliberately waited until the second one opened. "We're gonna be room 329. It's on the fourth floor, thankfully. It's one of the best floors."

"How do you know?"  
"I've been here before, a couple of times. This is where they put more of the... important people trying to stay undercover," she said, dropping her voice to a light mumble. Suzaku almost didn't make it out.

"Is this tied in as part of your family or something different?" he murmured, glancing around the elevator.

"... something different," she hesitantly replied. Suzaku looked over at her, curious. She shook her head. "I can't give you any more details unless I know you're on our side."

"What is this about?" he asked, eyes narrowing.

"Freeing the Numbers," she said, a serious look on her face. He stared at her. Before he could say more, the doors dinged open. She stepped off the elevator instantly and started down the right hall. Suzaku followed close behind. What did she mean 'freeing the Numbers'? Was she part of a resistance?

She opened the hotel room and held open the door for Suzaku. He went straight to the bed closest to the window and gently lay Lelouch on the bed. He was surprised how heavy Lelouch could sleep at times. And he was worried about falling asleep in Britannia. Suzaku chuckled lightly and let the bags fall on the ground. Milly was already settling in her bed, getting her pillows situated.

Suzaku took the time to observe the room. It really was a nice room. The walls were a caramel color with a cranberry red accent. The two beds were very nice and plush and looked extremely clean. So did the pillows. The carpet in the room, a light gray color with flecks of blues and greens on the end, was obviously cleaned and shampooed often. There was even a forty inch flat screen TV at the end of the beds on an oak stand. This was very impressive.

"So, since Lelouch is still asleep, you should stay behind with him and I'll go to the pine tree place myself," Milly started. Suzaku shook his head.

"Either I go with you and leave Lelouch behind, you wake him up, or we wait until he's awake," Suzaku said firmly.

Milly chewed on her bottom lip nervously and glanced at the clock on the bedside. "I already have the meeting scheduled for nine-thirty and I promised I'd be alone," she started.

"We can wait in the Taxi further back," Suzaku said automatically. She hesitated again. "This has something to do with your connections, doesn't it?"

Milly's eyes narrowed and she took a moment to think before saying, "I have a few things I had to do here before we got the trees. I got the trees for free with a special connection my Aunt Gilly still had. The people delivering the trees don't want to be spotted or-"

"I know when you're lying, Milly. And your Aunt Gilly hasn't had any connections in years. I would know, Lelouch told me about it when she first got dementia."

Milly cursed softly and glared at Suzaku. "There's no reason for you to be this nosy!"

"It is when it involved with Numbers," Suzaku said softly. "If there was any way to help my people and others like me, I'd want to!"

"This isn't the time to be getting involved," Milly said and sat down. She sighed and rubbed at her face. "I knew this would be a bad idea to do, but the trees were gonna be free! I figured I'd be able to meet up with them without Lelouch or you getting involved. I was so wrong and now I can't get out of this. No one is supposed to know..." She wrung at her hands, looking really nervous.

"We can't just let you go alone, Milly," Suzaku said, "This place is really dangerous."

"Someone's gonna be there every step of the way. I promise," she said, sounding desperate. Suzaku hesitated. It wouldn't be the worst idea ever...

"I can't do that, Milly," he said reluctantly. "You have to take us with. I don't trust this country."

Reluctantly, Milly nodded and stood up. "Do you want to wake up Lelouch or should we leave him here?" she asked. "We gotta get moving if we're gonna be on time."

Suzaku glanced at Lelouch. "Let's just take him with. He can still sleep." Milly nodded and grabbed her purse. Suzaku scooped up Lelouch and adjusted him until the raven-haired boy was settled against his chest. Milly opened the door for him as she fished out her phone and dialed a number. She stayed behind Suzaku for a moment, talking quietly into the phone and then made another call. That call was a lot shorter and then Milly was leading Suzaku to the elevator.

"I need you to keep your head down when we get there. I called for my own personal car so we won't have to take a taxi."

Suzaku nodded. "Do you want me to stay in back? That way the people might not see me?"

Milly nodded. "That's a smart idea. You can't say anything about this either. It's extremely important it stays under wraps."

Hesitantly, Suzaku nodded. "I'll agree to this, but I want to know more once we get back to Area 11."

"Deal," she said quietly. Suzaku couldn't help, but grin. Just maybe, he could help free the Japanese even sooner than he thought!

She led Suzaku over to a small side door on the first floor. There was a car waiting on the other side. When Milly stepped out of the hotel, a young man stepped out of the car. He was about eighteen, with a deep chestnut hair and narrowed eyes. "What is he doing with you?" he demanded, slamming the driver's door closed.

"Aaric, don't worry about him," Milly said, stepping over to the passenger seat.

"Are you planning on leading Britannians to our resistance?! What the hell are you thinking?" he said, his voice dropped to a whisper. But Suzaku could hear the anger in his voice clearly.

"He's not a Britannian," Milly said, giggling. "He's wearing that mask Ilene got me. And don't worry about Lelouch. He's already known."

Aaric growled. "What is he?"

Suzaku frowned and said, "I'm Japanese. You can ask me these questions."

Aaric just glanced at Suzaku before frowning at Milly again. "You're supposed to talk with Penta before you bring anyone new to this organization."

"It was a last minute decision and I couldn't get a hold of her before I called you." She opened the door. "Can we just go? I have a busy schedule to accomplish in one day and night. And Suzaku isn't going to cause any issues. Just call him Sumnor in public." With that, she closed the door. Milly met Suzaku's eyes and signaled with her head for him to get in. He opened the rear door without much complication, deposited Lelouch in the seat gently, and got in quickly. He barely got the door shut before Aaric was in the car and taking off. Suzaku could see that they were arguing in the front, but they were talking too quietly for him to make out much.

The only interesting thing he really caught was, "I know Kallen introduced you to this, but we're in a completely different sector group than she is. The rules are different."

"You all still work together and I think they'll both join," Milly whispered back just as furiously. "They would both be very valuable. Especially Suzaku-"

"Don't say another word," Aaric interrupted coldly.

After that, they didn't say a thing. Suzaku didn't think it would be a good idea to speak either. He just stared out the window, hardly noticing he was playing with Lelouch's hair. It was the only thing that could distract him at the moment and truthfully, it helped him think. What group was Milly part of? And Kallen had somehow introduced her to whatever this was? It had to be some sort of resistance group against Britannia, considering how pissed Aaric had been when he thought Milly had brought two Britannians. Why was Milly doing this? And exactly what were they doing?

Would he want to help them? What if they were resisting in the most violent way imaginable? It was so intriguing, but scary all in one. What is he supposed to do? Technically, he was a Britannian, so he was supposed to report this to his Superior. But Milly was a Britannian too and, more importantly, his friend. No rules could make him want to turn in his friends. Just like Lelouch.

Suddenly, he felt Lelouch starting to stir. He looked down at the raven haired boy, who was blinking away the sleep in his eyes. Then he looked up at Suzaku. He was surprised to see a smile spread across his face. "Where are we at now, Suzaku?" he asked, sleepily.

"We're with Milly and a friend of hers. They're taking us to bargain on the trees," Suzaku said softly. He thought it was better not to tell him exactly what was going on. Lelouch nodded slowly, eyes closing again. "Have you been having troubles sleeping, Lelouch?"

"A little bit," Lelouch admitted softly. "I was up almost all night last night, so that's why I'm so tired right now."

"You can keep resting," Suzaku told him.

After a moment, Lelouch shook his head and sat up. "No, I'm fine now." Then he glanced at the front area and frowned. Milly smiled at Lelouch over the seat.

"Don't worry, this shouldn't take too long," she said, glancing at Aaric.

"Who's the guy?" he asked, suspicion in his voice.

"Who are you?" Aaric shot back, glaring at Lelouch in the mirror.

"Lelouch, this is Aaric Aitken. Aaric, this is Lelouch Lamperouge," Milly introduced, glaring at Aaric.

Lelouch chuckled. "So, she got you under an alias too." He said it as a statement, but Aaric nodded anyways.

"We all have alias names. Who are you really?" he asked, glancing at Milly.

"If I told you mine, I'd be executed. I'm already presumed dead."

Aaric nodded. "Mine also. Britannia must have really messed up your life."

Lelouch nodded, glancing at Suzaku. Suzaku shrugged and looked out the window again. In the glass, he noticed his reflection and almost shuddered. It really was weird to see himself in a Britannian version. He really didn't enjoy it. Especially since this is what he could have looked like if he had been born in Britannia instead of Japan…

The car stopped, bringing Suzaku out of his thoughts. The area was almost abandoned. There wasn't obvious signs of life in the general vicinity that he could make out. "You two are going to wait here," Aaric said, opening his door. "No one should be able to spot you that might be looking. We'll be back in about fifteen minutes." He stepped out of the car. Milly followed his actions, giving both boys a confident smile and then she closed the passenger door.

"What is she doing?" Lelouch asked, looking nervously at the door.

Suzaku shrugged. "She said not to talk about it-"

"Just tell me. I won't tell her, you know that."

Suzaku stared at Lelouch for a minute. He was more afraid Lelouch would get protective over Milly more than anything. Still, it would be better to get Lelouch's opinion on the matter… He started telling him everything that he had heard and what Milly had said. Lelouch listened intently, but he didn't look like he got really concerned, protective, or mad. In fact, he just looked really curious.

"What do you think this group does?" Lelouch asked, once Suzaku was done explaining.

Suzaku shrugged. "I'm just as curious myself. If I could help the Japanese somehow, I would be ecstatic."

"..." Lelouch hesitated, then slowly said, "They're probably using... methods you don't approve of."

Reluctantly, Suzaku nodded. "I've been thinking about that. I've tried the other way, working my way up the Britannian ladder, but all it's gotten me is heartbreak and a lot more hassle with the people. Maybe the way I've been doing things isn't what's going to change Area 11."

Honestly, that's what he had been thinking at night. He'd basically been cut from the military since the fiscal with Euphemia, even though it was supposedly "kept under the rug". He knew the only reason he was still alive was because of Euphemia. She'd sacrificed their relationship and her personal life to save his life. He regretted that every day. There had to be a better way to get results than this...

Before they had time to talk anymore, the front driver door opened. Aaric popped his head in, looking at both of them suspiciously. He said to Suzaku first, "Take off the mask." Then looked at Lelouch and said, "Are you really against Britannia? And I mean both of you."

Suzaku nodded as he attempted to find the seal around his face. Once he did, he peeled off the cool material. It felt so nice to be able to let his face breath. Aaric nodded and glanced at Lelouch. "We're both against Britannia," Lelouch reassured him, glancing at Suzaku.

"Then Penta wants to meet both of you. Come." He closed the door. Lelouch glanced at Suzaku who shrugged again.

"It's not going to hurt to listen," Suzaku told him, unbuckling. Lelouch followed suit and they both stepped out of the vehicle.

**~A/N~**

**So, I am VERY hesitantly putting in a deeper plot, possibly even for a sequel. Very sorry about such a long update. Grandpa passed away. Plus, my schooling, my new management position, and the start of my summer college classes has been requiring almost all of my attention. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, the next one should be out quicker, but I can't make any promises. Next chapter is the dance, so definitely some SuzaXLuLu if not a lot.**

**R&R!**

**XmX**


	10. Chapter 10: Britannia Part 2

**Chapter Ten: Britannia Part Two**

Lelouch hesitated when he stepped into the building. He couldn't exactly see many people, but he sensed them in the shadows, felt them watching him walk in. It was unnerving. Glancing at Suzaku, he figured the Japanese boy probably felt the same thing. Only Milly and Aaric seemed unfazed by the feeling. Aaric called out, "Penta, Milly brought some guests," and continued walking out of the room. Milly waited for Lelouch and Suzaku to catch up.

"What exactly are you involved in, Milly?" Lelouch asked quietly, glancing at the edge of the room.

"Don't worry. Nothing bad is going to happen," she said calmly.

Someone started walking out of the shadows. Lelouch blinked when he saw her. She was only five feet at most, very skinny and lightly tanned. She had sleek black hair pulled back into a ponytail and her almond-shaped deep brown eyes studied Lelouch and Suzaku with such intensity he couldn't look away. Finally, she turned her gaze away from them and addressed Milly, "Is this why you called me so urgently?" Her voice was sharp and very to-the-point.

Milly bowed her head. "Penta, this is Lelouch Lamperouge and Suzaku Kururugi. They're both from Area 11 and I'm ninety percent sure they would be interested in joining the Movement."

"Are they aware of what we do here?" she asked, glancing at them again.

"No."

Penta frowned. "If they are not aware of what we do, then why would you bring them here? If they decide to turn us in-"

"Neither of them would do that, ma'am. They are both very loyal to the cause against Britannia." Lelouch was slightly surprised by how professional Milly sounded right now. She was never this polite, even to the most important figures her family would meet with.

She studied Milly for a moment. Her gaze got more intense with each moment that passed. Finally, she asked, "Do you have the papers?"

"Yes." Milly reached into the bag on her side and pulled out a manila folder. "Everything's in there. Do you have the ones for Kallen?"

Penta nodded, saying, "Aaric is getting them now. Shouldn't be too long."

As if on cue, Aaric walked back into the room, a folder in hand. Penta nodded to Aaric and took the folder from him. She offered it to Milly, who took it instantly and tucked it into her messenger bag. She bowed her head to Penta and asked, "Can we inform them of the Movement before I head out?"

"Aaric can get you some papers for them to read. I have other important business to attend to. The trees will be shipped to your plane in a few hours," Penta said coolly, glancing at Lelouch and Suzaku. Lelouch stared back at her, intrigued by her command of power. There was something about her that was mesmerizing.

She turned and disappeared before Lelouch could say a thing. He stared after her, until Milly suddenly jumped into his vision. She had her head cocked to the side, a curious expression on her face. "Is everything all right?" she asked.

"What did you bring us in to?" he asked, letting some annoyance enter his voice.

"This is the greatest thing ever," Milly said, glancing at Suzaku. He was still studying the room they were in. He looked at Milly, as if sensing she was looking at him.

"This is a resistance group against Britannia." He stated it as a fact, but Milly nodded.

"There's many resistance groups in all the different Areas. Currently, in Area 11, we're starting up a group, but we're really limited on resources and the group can't find a proper leader," Milly informed. "Aaric should be bringing more information for you."

"Why would you bring us to a terrorist place?!" Suzaku demanded softly, glancing at the edges of the rooms again.

"This isn't a terrorist group," Milly said calmly. "We're a resistance group. There's a big difference."

"What's the difference? You both use similar methods!" Suzaku said, louder than intended. He flushed and looked away from Milly.

Lelouch could see the hurt look on her face. "It's okay, Milly," Lelouch started.

She cut him off, "No, apparently it's not. Suzaku thinks that I'd be stupid enough to involve myself in with a terrorist group!" Lelouch glanced at Suzaku and noticed the guilty look on his face. Milly just glared at the Japanese boy.

Aaric interrupted their argument. He smirked at Milly and offered her a large envelope. "What are you grinning at?" she snapped, grabbing the folder out of his hand. "We're leaving anyways." She turned around and started off.

"I'll let Kallen know all about this!" Aaric called after her cheerfully. Lelouch shot the Britannian boy a glare and went after Milly. Suzaku followed close behind. Thankfully, no one tried to stop them. Lelouch breathed a sigh of relief as soon as they were out on the streets.

No one said a word on the walk back to the car that Milly was apparently borrowing. Milly fumed silently the entire time, even as she was driving. Eventually, Lelouch asked, "Milly, is everything okay?"

"Don't even ask," she said quietly. The look on her face made him shut up. He couldn't believe how upset she was about this. Suzaku sat in the back quietly. Lelouch noticed the absent, but thoughtful look on his face and decided it was better not to talk to him either.

Milly's phone started ringing. She glanced at the screen and cursed. "Just fucking great," she muttered, throwing her phone into the floor. Lelouch saw it was Kallen calling.

Eventually, the group got back to the hotel room. By then, Milly seemed calmer. She asked, "Did you both still want to go shopping for tonight's festival? Or would you rather skip it?"

That seemed to snap Suzaku out of his faze. He said cautiously, "I'd still like to see that, personally, but it's whatever Lelouch and you would like to do."

"Okay, let's all rest up for a bit, and then head out for lunch. We can go out to look for some formal wear and then get ready to head there. It'll be starting up at five." She turned off the car and got out. Lelouch turned to Suzaku before he got out and demanded, "Did you really mean to say that to Milly?"

Suzaku froze and turned back to Lelouch. "No, I didn't really mean to say that," he mumbled, looking away.

"Apologize to her. She's going to be upset until you do. She doesn't want your understanding, she just wants you to respect what she's doing," Lelouch continued, studying Suzaku. He really did look sorry, he even had that sad puppy-dog look on his face.

Reluctantly, Lelouch reached out and touched Suzaku's hand. He looked up at Lelouch, startled. "Really, she won't be upset at you. Just be sincere."

Slowly, Suzaku smiled. "Thanks, Lelouch." Lelouch smiled back, not sure exactly what to say. Suzaku pulled his hand away and stepped out of the car. For a moment, Lelouch didn't move. He just sat there, slightly confused to what he was feeling. He didn't care when someone just walked away like that. So why, when Suzaku did it, did he feel dread pooling in his stomach?

Suzaku poked his head in the window, startling Lelouch out of his thoughts. "Are you coming in or what?" the Japanese boy asked, a smile spread across his face. Even in the Britannian Mask, Suzaku was still breath-taking. Lelouch couldn't help himself; he couldn't deny the fact how wonderful the boy was.

"Yeah, I'm coming," he said, a beat later than necessary. A confused frown formed on Suzaku's face. Lelouch opened his door before Suzaku could finish whatever thoughts were coming to mind and, while closing the car door, asked the Japanese boy, "What do you think the festival will be like?"

"I want to imagine it as something like our festivals in Area 11, before the conquest; there's gorgeous lights everywhere, booths to play games, dancing, entertainment, fireworks, everything," Suzaku said eagerly. His eyes were wide and the smile was back on his face.

"It's something like that. It's a masked event though. You don't know the true identity of anyone that you didn't go to the Festival with. That's why Milly and I will be able to sneak into the festival without a worry in mind. The masks aren't allowed to come off at any moment, no matter what. Even the Britannian Guards aren't permitted to."

"Does that mean I won't have to wear this weird mask on top of it? Cause I appreciate being able to enjoy this sight-seeing, but I have to say this mask gets uncomfortable after a while," Suzaku said, itching under his chin.

Lelouch chuckled. "Just take it off when we get into the hotel room." They walked into the hotel in a comfortable silence. Lelouch studied Suzaku out of the corner of his eye while they stood in the elevator. "Do you think what Milly is doing is such a bad thing?" he asked after a bit.

Slowly, Suzaku shook his head. "At first, I was appalled. I'm tired of all the fighting, I really am. But I'm starting to realize, the only way to make a difference isn't just through working the system. You have to put up some sort of battle. And she did say it was different from the terrorist groups that just use destruction and terror to get attention." Lelouch nodded, silent. Suzaku really did have a point…

When they entered the hotel room, Milly was already sprawled out on her bed, studying what looked like a history book. She was biting the tip of her pencil still when she looked up. The first thing Suzaku did was walk up to Milly and bow. "I'm really sorry for what I said," he said, more towards the floor than at her directly. "I shouldn't have been so rash or rude to you."

Milly smiled and said, "Oh, don't worry about it. I understand you have different views than I do."

Suzaku straightened up, a serious expression on his face. "That's the thing. I've been thinking about what you said. I'm willing to listen to what you have to say."

Milly grinned widely and said, "I knew you'd change your mind! Do you want to talk about it now?!"

Suzaku chuckled. "Not at this moment. My brain needs a rest for a few hours before this festival."

Milly nodded in understanding, a large grin on her face. "Let's all rest up, get to the festival. We can talk about this more when we get on the plane tomorrow morning."

"That's a brilliant idea," Lelouch agreed, already settling down onto the bed opposite of Milly. Suzaku glanced between Lelouch and Milly for a moment, deciding which bed to use. Not even a second later, he went over to Lelouch's bed and lay down on the other side. Lelouch and Milly shared a quick glance. It was obvious what the blond girl was thinking. Lelouch just glared at her. There was no reason to start bringing up Suzaku already. Lelouch looked away from Milly and closed his violet eyes. He was in dire need of rest.

Within moments, he had dozed off.

#

#

Suzaku lay in bed, listening to Lelouch and Milly's steady breathing. He wasn't able to fall asleep like he first thought he could. His mind was racing. He kept thinking about Milly's proposal and of Euphemia. He missed her dearly at times; he wanted her back so bad. Yet, he knew that wasn't possible. They'd talked a few times, since she went to Area 9. She was happy, and actually in love with her fiancée. He could tell she didn't need him hovering in the background, hoping she'd leave and come back for him.

Milly's proposal brought in a whole new light of possibilities. He could make situations like Euphemia and his relationship not just an idea, but a reality for others. He had tried working the systems from the inside, but that wasn't working one bit. Milly's proposal was much more appealing at this point. Besides, she said they didn't actually use terrorism or kill to gain results. It was a resistance group, to help bring all the Numbers back to the light, back to their dignified rights to be called humans beings again.

He found he couldn't fall asleep. Suzaku sighed and rolled onto his side. Lelouch had his head turned towards Suzaku. His mouth was open slightly, and he breathed steadily. His eyelid twitched slightly and he grumbled lightly. Suzaku couldn't help, but smile; Lelouch really was a cute sleeper. Instantly, Suzaku's brows furrowed. Was it weird he was thinking about Lelouch being cute? It couldn't be that unusual that he would think of his friend that way... right?

Suzaku sat up, trying to ignore the quickly developing headache. He really didn't need to worry about all this right now. He just had to get through the rest of the day and then he could relax tomorrow. Besides, there was nothing to worry about anyway. Suzaku swung himself out of the bed and quietly started pacing the room. Being confined to such a small space was really getting to him...

"Just a quick run," he murmured, turning to the brief case Milly had his mask in. He attached the mask and quickly wrote a note for the two in case they woke up before he returned. Suzaku was sure he would be back before then. He slipped out of the room and hurried down the hall. Already, he could feel his heart start to pick up pace. He really loved running.

As soon as his feet touched the ground outside, he was running. The air here wasn't as fresh, but he took in deep steady breaths. He could hear his feet pounding on the ground, feel the muscles contracting and expanding with each step, and took in every smell that he passed. This was why he enjoyed running. He noticed a park out of the corner of his eye and quickly changed his course.

At least Britannia took good care of their parks. This park was full of life and luscious. The trees with blooming beautifully, the shrubs were bright and full, and this place smelled almost like it deserved to be part of Japan, back in the day. A lazy grin formed on his face when he noticed a medium sized waterfall to his left. He stopped and looked into the spacious pond. There were Koi everywhere! And not just any kind, but ones that were specifically from Japan. "This is amazing," he murmured.

"Do you enjoy the Koi too?"

Suzaku's breath caught in his throat. He knew that voice anywhere… He turned to his left and saw the beautiful pink haired Britannian princess. She smiled at Suzaku politely, but she had her head cocked to the side with a curious expression on her face. "I'm Euphy."

"I-I'm Sumnor," he stammered, quickly trying to change his voice, even just a little bit.

A small frown formed on her face. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

"I don't believe so," he mumbled, looking away. "Please, excuse me, I must continue my run."

He fled from the area before she could say another word. Why was she in Britannia? Sure, she had every right to be, but she had been in Area 9 the last time they spoke. He felt like his head was spinning. What was going on? The idea of a run didn't seem like such an appealing idea. He found a path back to the street he was on before and Suzaku started back towards the hotel. Hopefully, Milly and Lelouch would be awake soon.

As soon as he slipped into the hotel room, he heard the Britannian students moving around. He breathed a sigh of relief, happy for the distraction. Lelouch looked over at him as soon as he walked in. A small frown was already on his face. "Where were you?" he asked sharply.

"I went for a run," he answered. "You'll never guess who's in Britannia right now." He went over to his bag and looked for his wallet.

"Who's here?" Milly asked, her head popping out of the bathroom.

"Euphemia. I'm guessing Cornelia would be here as well," Suzaku answered.

Lelouch's eyes widened slightly. "I forgot how important this festival is to the entire family. Maybe we shouldn't go…"

"Oh, don't worry. It's a Masked Festival," Milly said, giggling slightly. "I know you worry, but this time there's no excuse. Besides, everyone thinks you're dead."

Suzaku could see the uncomfortable look on his face. Was being back in Britannia really that bad? He went over to Lelouch and asked softly, "Is Britannia really that bad?"

After a moment, Lelouch shook his head and answered quietly, "I'm just really nervous. If I get found out, Nunnally and Rolo are in a lot of trouble. I don't want to risk their lives."

"I'm sure we'll all be fine. Besides, I'm more screwed than you are," Suzaku answered, chuckling softly.

Lelouch nodded, a thoughtful look on his face. "This should be interesting. I wonder what all has changed in the last seven years." It was obvious the raven-haired boy wanted to change the subject, so Suzaku played along with his rouse.

Once Milly was all ready for the shopping trip, she drug both boys down to the same car again and took off into traffic. "Okay, so I'm thinking we should hit the mall first," she said, glancing at the traffic around her. She looked up in the rear-view mirror at Suzaku and flashed him a brief smile. "The mall here is amazing! Especially for this festival."

"You're such a liar, Milly. Any place makes sure they're extra festive this time of the year," Lelouch said, a small smile on his face. He was still looking out the window. Suzaku noticed he was fiddling with the ends of his shirt. That was a sure sign he was nervous. Suzaku sighed softly; he wish he knew how to help his friend more.

"What do you think, Suzaku?" Milly asked, bringing him out of his train of thought.

"Why don't we stop by thrift stores instead? I'm sure they'll be much less expensive," Suzaku pointed out, glancing at Lelouch again when Milly started babbling once more. Lelouch looked like he lost any interest in what they were talking about. It was obvious he was stressed about something. He scooted closer to where Lelouch was and asked softly "Is everything okay?"

Lelouch almost jumped and glanced at the Japanese boy. "You know me, I always worry about things when it could possibly involve either Nunnally or Rolo. I have to be very careful," he said quietly, glancing at Milly. She hadn't noticed either of them had started a short conversation, still chatting on about some thrift store called Unique*.

Milly pulled into the parking lot and somehow found a decent parking spot. The place was packed! Both boys glanced between the store and Milly. She just grinned and turned off the engine. "So who's ready to go?" she asked, a glint in her eyes. Both boys could only groan.

#  
#

It took several hours before all three of them found something to wear. Milly's was a gorgeous strapless navy blue dress that flared out at her waist. There was beading on the bodice area and at the end of the dress. Suzaku had a simple black and silver pin-striped suit. Lelouch had a similar one, except his just a regular black suit with gold accents. To make things better, they all found matching masks with colors to match their outfits. Quite frankly, they looked stunning.

Once they were paid for, Milly drove everyone over to a fastfood joint and picked them up some burger, fries, and some kind of "Flavor-burst**" ice cream. To make things better, it was a drive-in joint, so they got to enjoy their meals settled in the car. Suzaku couldn't help, but admit it was actually a really fun time, even with the shopping. Once Milly thought everyone was satisfied, she drove them back to their rooms to get dressed. It finally felt like everyone was happy. Lelouch and Suzaku chatted with Milly all the way back to the hotel. She could actually feel a festive ring around the three of them. And she might even have two more members!

By the time they made it to Central Park, the festival was in full swing. The sun had already set, but the area was still brightly lit with lots of paper lanterns, lights, and candles. The night air felt perfect and just the right temperature. The festival was grand and gorgeous. Suzaku was awestruck by how amazing everything looked. As soon as he entered the festival, he was offered a stamp for his hand and then a small white flower from a beautifully dressed masked lady. He thanked her softly and tucked the flower into his breast pocket.

The festival was flowing with people. Milly and Lelouch were pressed in side by side with Suzaku. They even bumped into people back and forth some of the time. Milly managed to say loud enough over the crowd, "You just have to get through here. The entrance is always the busiest spot!"

She was very right. After only about another fifteen yards, everything opened up. Somehow it was even more beautiful! There were concession stands on all sides of them, bustling with masked, but gorgeous looking people. There were children scampering around underneath people's feet, laughing and chasing one another. And if you walked just a little further, there was a grand stage with beautiful music playing. A good portion of people were dancing there too.

"Oh, this is absolutely wonderful, Milly," Suzaku breathed, staring at everything with wide eyes.

"This is why I want to change the world," she said softly, glancing at him. "I want everyone to be able to enjoy such an amazing festival and time. Everyone deserves to be treated fairly and not be judged based on their race. We all deserve more."

Suzaku was stunned. He had no idea that's how she felt about everyone. "That's amazing, Milly," he said softly, glancing around him. "I want that too."

"Please, just consider joining us. We need smarter people, like Lelouch and you." She grinned at Suzaku. "Come on, you have to try this stand first!" She pulled him over to a ridiculous-looking fishing game. It was obvious how easy it should be, but Suzaku had a feeling the game was rigged somehow. All there was was a pole, string and a magnet tied to one end. The rubber fish in the water had magnets on their backs.

Surprisingly, almost everyone won at this game. The trick was getting the right fish with a number written on their bellies. The higher the number, between 1-10, got you the size of the prize. Milly only got a 3, and picked out a cute mini panda. While Suzaku started his hunt for the fish, Milly found Lelouch in the crowd and called him over. He heard Lelouch say, "I'm not wasting my money on such a ridiculous game."

Suzaku didn't care that Lelouch thought it was a ridiculous game; actually, it was quite amusing. He tried it several times, at first only getting small numbers, no higher than four. Eventually, Lelouch even joined him. Suzaku could feel Milly behind them and heard her giggling softly, but he tuned it out. It was fun, trying to outwin Lelouch. Eventually, they found out exactly who the real "fisher" was. Lelouch held up the number "9", grinning smugly at Suzaku.

"At least I know you can beat me in fake fishing," Suzaku said, laughing.

"Oh, har har. You're just jealous," Lelouch shot back, handing the pole to the concession person.

"I'm sorry, right now this is the only prize we have for anything over a seven," the lady said, handing Lelouch what had to be the cutest thing ever! Suzaku had no idea why, but the cute little stuffed brown monkey with two egg shells attached to his feet and end was just awesome!

As soon as he looked up at Lelouch, it was obvious the Britannian boy knew how much Suzaku liked his prize. Suzaku decided just to turn away and turn in his fish number, a mere "6". He ended up with a small little green and bluish snake that wrapped around his forearm. Milly giggled. "Come on! We gotta do every single stand!"

Milly had them running around for about an hour between all the stands, from dart throwing to target shooting to water guns (they may or may not have shot at each other more than the targets...). Unfortunately, they spent a lot more money than any of them really wanted to. But, they all found it was quite worth it. Milly even made sure to take pictures, almost every single second she could. She paired all three of them up with each other, even prompting Lelouch and Suzaku to lift their masks up, long enough to get a good shot of who they really were.

Lelouch wasn't sure why, but Milly looked super impressed with that picture.

After they went through every single concession stand and shopping stands, they started winding down. Milly stopped them to eat a quick snack of popcorn balls and some delicious cake. "Okay, right after this, we're going to dance!" Milly said brightly, taking a quick bite of cake. "Obviously, I'll make sure to give both you guys a chance to dance with me, but you have to open up and dance together along with other strangers!"

Lelouch rolled his eyes and told Milly, "Good luck with that!" Suzaku hummed in agreement

"Oh, don't be such a stick in the mud! Just relax and have fun. I'm not asking you to make out with anyone or anything. So try new things. Honestly," Milly huffed, standing up. "Well, I'm going out onto the dance floor. Follow along as soon as you're done eating. If I don't see you soon, I will hunt you down." Then she disappeared into the crowd. Suzaku and Lelouch glanced at each other.

"Are you really going to want to dance?" Lelouch asked him, taking a sip of the Cola in hand. He'd forgotten how good the homeland's soda was.

"Milly did say she would hunt us down," he pointed out. "Besides, dancing isn't that bad. That's one active thing you're pretty decent at too."

"Oh, shut up. You know I'm a better analyzer than an athlete," Lelouch grumbled, glancing at the crowd of people near the dance floor. "I just don't want to accidentally run into any of the family members."

"You know the chances of that are very slim. Besides, they wouldn't notice you anyway. I can hardly recognize you and we came to the event together!"

After a moment, Lelouch smiled slightly. "You're right." He gulped down the rest of his soda and stood up. "Come on, let's go have some fun."

For Suzaku, most of the night was a blur. There were people pressing against him at all sides, yet he had enough room to move. He found himself filled with a large burst of happiness and energy. He didn't want to stop dancing actually, even to the music he had no idea where they came from. Even the Britannian music had this special ring to it. Eventually, he found Milly in the mix of people. She danced right over to him, just as a slow song came on.

"Dance with me, sir?" she asked, a giggle in her voice.

"Of course, milady," he said with a grin in his voice. He bowed to her and then offered his hand. When she took it, he made sure to gracefully sweep her in and take the lead. She couldn't help, but giggle.

"You're certainly a gentleman," Milly said, settling her head against his shoulder.

"I try my hardest," he said softly, glancing down at the blond Britannian. After a moment, she looked up and met his gaze.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked him quietly.

"You. About being a part of a resistance group... more so about you being with Nyfian, and doing everything in your power to make sure I'm not interested in who I should be. Why are you doing all of this suddenly? It's just so confusing," he answered.

Milly hesitated before saying, "I know the perfect person for you... But right now you aren't ready for them. Honestly, you might never be. I'm hopeful though. Finally finding my real calling and finding such a good girlfriend to be with has really opened me up to the mushy true love crap." She laughed softly. "I just need you to open up more. Be more open-minded."

"..." Suzaku wasn't sure what to say. He wasn't sure whether he should ask her more about this person or ask her exactly how open-minded he needed to be. Surely, the person couldn't be that weird.

The song ended before he could say anything else. Milly pulled away and smiled brightly. "If you see Lelouch, give him at least one dance. It'll be like the old days with Nunnally." Then, she disappeared intot he crowd again, passing through all the people.

He didn't see Lelouch for almost another hour. He danced between a bunch of different strangers, letting the melody pull him away from his current reality. But, then there was Lelouch. Suzaku didn't know where he showed up from, but Suzaku could spot the raven-haired boy anywhere. When he did, Suzaku made his way over to his friend instantly. Lelouch told him, "I think Milly's about ready to head back."

Suzaku nodded and asked Lelouch, "Wanna have one dance first? It would be a good way to end the night."

Lelouch looked slightly surprised, but nodded.

As luck would have it, the third slow song of the night came on at that moment. Suzaku didn't hesitate to take Lelouch's hand and start leading the boy away from the edge of the crowd. "You're going to actually dance with me, to a slow song?" Lelouch asked, humor in his voice.

"Of course, good Knight. Two Knights can always dance away together at least once in their lifetime," Suzaku said, laughing.

Lelouch couldn't help, but laugh too. "Are you going to treat me like the girl in this dance?" he asked, momentarily enjoying the feel of Suzaku's hand on his.

"You're much more feminine than I am," Suzaku teased, reluctantly pulling Lelouch closer.

Lelouch had to make himself breathe. He couldn't remember the last time he had been this close to Suzaku and it hadn't ever been in such an intimate setting. Sure, Suzaku didn't mean to make it this way, but for that minute, Lelouch was taking advantage of the situation. He could deal with the heartbreak in the morning, so long as he got to enjoy this time.

Suzaku was the perfect height for him. The top of Lelouch's head was just under Suzaku's chin and, surprisingly, Suzaku actually let his head rest on top of Lelouch's. Lelouch closed his eyes, breathing in the Japanese boy. He still had his cologne on, but with all the dancing Suzaku had added a little extra spice to the scent. Lelouch sighed; he couldn't help himself. This had to be the perfect moment. Even Suzaku seemed utterly relaxed, being so close to a guy. After a moment, Lelouch glanced up at Suzaku's face; his eyes were closed and his face was totally relaxed. Lelouch felt Suzaku's arms tighten just a little bit and pulled Lelouch closer. Then his eyes opened and his gaze met Lelouch's. He didn't look away from Lelouch, nor did his gaze change at all... He'd never looked at Lelouch like this before...

The music changed, but neither boys seemed to notice. Suzaku had quit moving altogether. He murmured something too soft for Lelouch to make out, but Lelouch didn't dare ask what he had said. Then Suzaku's head dipped, just enough to be close to Lelouch. So close, Lelouch could almost feel the Japanese boy's breath on his face...

**~A/N~**

**WOO cliff hanger! What's gonna happen? Who's gonna kiss? *evil grin* Hopefully, you all enjoyed this chapter immensely, it took a lot of patience, rewriting, reediting, rewriting, and deleting to get where it is. Britannia just sucks to write about. I wanna go back to Area 11 again. Thankfully, that'll be next chapter.  
**

**R&R**

**XmX**


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